I Will Not Lose You
by Lunadeath
Summary: It's Scorpius's first year, and he plans on making friends with a Potter...maybe even a Weasley. He finds it's hard to not like Albus Potter, and is determined to be the best friend Al has ever had! -will be slash in future chapters!-
1. Chapter 1

Title:** I Will Not Lose You 01**

Pairings: Al/Scorpius

Rated: PG this chapter

Notes: Post-epilogue, so that means that this fic has some spoilers for book seven.

Albus Severus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy, and Rose Weasley is eleven and getting sorted. James is a third year. Lily and Hugo are nine, Teddy Lupin is eighteen, and Victorie is seventeen (and in her seventh year).

This fic was written mainly for fun, so there won't be much angst in this.

**Summary : **It's Scorpius's first year, and he plans on making friends with a Potter... maybe even a Weasley. He finds he actually likes Al Potter, despite his original goal on getting Al to like him. It's not as hard to like someone from a different family than he thought.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and its characters are not mine, but I'm only playing around with them. However, the Original Characters in here are mine and won't be used by anyone else without my permission.

.-.

He was nervous, but it was understandable. His father was expecting great things from him, and even though his father had never really said anything like: "You better be sorted into Slytherin, or I'll disown you", he knew there was that looming over him.

Scorpius wasn't sure, though. He would like to please him and be sorted into the same House as his father and his grandfather had been in, but if the Sorting Hat had a better place for him, then who was he to argue?

Ravenclaw was looking pretty good, but he'd also heard good things about Gryffindor. Was he really brave enough to be in that House? Only the Sorting Hat would know, really… right?

But he knew that if he were to survive, he should make the right friends and connections. One of those connections he was sure he should get was the Potters.

His father would always skim over the issue of Harry Potter whenever Scorpius would ask, but he did recall that his father told him to be wary of those Weasleys. He knew that his family and the Weasley family didn't get along real well, but did that mean that he should alienate himself from them? He didn't think he should base others on their parents or family.

So, here he was, scouring the compartments for a Potter or a Weasley. The world had become a bizarre and warped place.

"Go away, James!" He heard someone shout.

"Will ickle Albus be fine all by his lonesome?"

"Bugger off!"

"Don't let him bother you, Al," said a female voice.

James left, laughing all the way. Al was glaring at the back of his head.

"So, you're Albus Potter," said Scorpius. He didn't think he'd have the courage to actually talk to Harry Potter's son, but then again, he did want to see if he could become friends with him.

Al turned around in surprise and stared at him. "Yes, I am," he said, blinking in astonishment. Wow, his eyes were so green!

"Scorpius Malfoy," he said, sticking out his hand for Potter to shake. "I heard a bit about you."

"Really?" said Al, his cheeks flushed. He seemed to consider Scorpius's hand for only a second, but then he grasped it and shook hands with him in the way that his uncle Ron had taught him. "I only heard a little about you too."

"Oh? Did your father tell you to stay away from me?"

Al blinked. "Er, no. I don't think so…"

"Oh," said the girl next to them. "That's right! My father told me not to get too friendly with you." Her cheeks went pink.

"And you are?" said Scorpius.

"Rose," she said softly. She brought a hand up and Scorpius took in into his and kissed the back of it. She giggled. Albus rolled his eyes.

"Let's just find a compartment so that we're not blocking the aisle anymore."

Agreeing, they followed Al down the aisle. He found an empty compartment and opened it. Rose went in immediately, and Al started to follow, but then he looked back and saw that Scorpius was standing a little ways away, as if he weren't sure if he should be with them.

"Come on, Scorpius," said Al. "You can sit with us."

"Are you sure?" said Scorpius, slowly inching closer to Al. "I am a Malfoy, after all."

"Yes, I'm sure," smiled Al. "Come on."

Scorpius followed him in slowly, nonetheless. It was nice, though, he thought; it looked as if he were becoming friends with Albus Potter.

When Al sat by the window, Scorpius automatically sat next to him. Rose sat across from them with a book already opened in her hands. He could hardly believe how well things have been going so far. He felt as if he were throwing caution to the wind, as it were, because even though his father hadn't told him to stay away from the Potters, Scorpius was still feeling somewhat nervous about befriending one. Would his father approve of his decision, or would he get disowned?

"You know," said Rose suddenly, closing her book. "I could care less what our fathers think about each other. From what I've heard, they had a heck of a time getting along because of their history. Well, I say phooey on that! Besides, the Houses aren't as in war with one another as they used to be."

Al nodded in agreement, and Scorpius hummed to himself, thoughtfully. Rose had a point.

"Yeah," said Al. "Besides, they didn't seem to hate each other that much."

"They did when they were younger, during their school days," said Scorpius.

"But does that mean we should hate one another?" said Rose, gesturing.

"She's right," said Al. "I think we should be friends." He smiled at Scorpius, and he could feel warmth spreading through his cheeks.

"Even if we're sorted into different Houses?" Scorpius asked, a bit fearful.

There was stifling silence for a minute. Then, suddenly, Rose spoke up.

"Don't worry, Malfoy," she said, smiling. "We won't shun you… even if you do end up in Hufflepuff."

They laughed. The ice was broken.

.-.

With the Sorting Hat nearly over his eyes, Scorpius gripped the edges of the stool with both hands, his heart pounding.

_Hmm, this is curious,_ said the Hat. _You have much potential to becoming a great wizard for any of the Houses._

Oh, thought Scorpius. He wasn't sure if it was relief or dread. He thought about his father and what he would think.

_Yes,_ said the Hat. _Your father was very easy to sort, but you're a whole different type of person._

'Don't I know it,' Scorpius mentally sighed.

_So, where should I put you?_

'Not Hufflepuff!' Scorpius chanted in his head. 'Not Hufflepuff!'

_This is true,_ said the Hat. _Well, then, let's see…_

The Sorting Hat seemed to be taking its time deciding. Scorpius wanted to just shout at it to hurry or just pick any old one, since he would do well in any of them, but he didn't really want to rush it. He wanted to be placed into the House that would best suit him.

_The House that will best suit you? _The Hat said, sounding as if it was smirking._ That's easy…_

Scorpius gulped anxiously. This was it.

The Hat opened its mouth and shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

The entire room fell silent. Scorpius's jaw dropped.

The Sorting Hat was taken off his head. "Go to your table," said the professor doing the sorting. He didn't hear the professor at first, he just sat there, stunned. But then, someone started to clap in the group of un-sorted first years, jolting him back to reality. It was Al! That got the rest of the others clapping, and then the whole Gryffindor table was cheering.

Scorpius slowly stepped off the stool and made his way to the Gryffindor table. Great, what was his father going to think? What was he going to say? Would he disown him? He was the first Malfoy to ever be sorted into anything other than Slytherin!

But the Hat didn't think he belonged in Slytherin, so why argue?

It didn't take long, and Potter was sitting on the stool, the Hat falling over his eyes. Scorpius watched him nervously. He hoped Al would be in the same House. Not that it mattered, really.

Finally, after a couple minutes of silence, the Sorting Hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

The whole hall cheered. Scorpius stood and cheered just as loud.

Pink cheeked, Al made his way over to the table. What made Scorpius even happier was that Al sat down right next to him.

"Congratulations, Al," said Scorpius, patting his back (feeling some guilty pleasure in able to do so).

Al looked down the table and saw his older brother. James was whispering with his friends. He was probably gossiping about them. Both Al and Scorpius hoped that James wasn't going to start something now.

It finally came time for Rose to be sorted. She wasn't a bad sort, Scorpius thought. He wouldn't mind being her friend.

But then the Sorting Hat shouted, "RAVENCLAW!" and she was walking over to the Ravenclaw table with a smile on her face.

Scorpius didn't know what got into him, but he stood up and waved at her. She saw and waved back, grinning.

"See you later!" he shouted.

"Yes, see you sometime!" she shouted back. "Perhaps in the library!"

Most definitely.

.-.

"Hey," said Al, sitting on the couch. "What's up?"

Scorpius smiled at him. It had been a week already, and he hadn't had the courage to write home yet. He had a feeling that his father wouldn't wait too much longer for him to owl him, but he wasn't sure if he could really tell his parents. What would he say? 'Sorry, but your one and only loving son is a hasty, hardheaded Gryffindor and not a Slytherin, which the whole family had been for centuries'?

"Just thinking," he finally said to Al.

"About what?" Al said. That damn smile of his was so brilliant and radiant; it made Scorpius's insides flutter. Was that normal? And don't even get him started on Al's eyes.

Scorpius scrubbed at his face, the tip of his quill nearly going into his eyeball. "Just thinking of what to write in my letter to my parents."

"Did you tell them that you were sorted into Gryffindor yet?"

Scorpius's stomach churned in a not-so-comfortable way.

"No, not yet," he sighed. "I'm dreading what my father will say, actually."

Al shrugged, as if it really weren't such a big deal. Scorpius wasn't sure if that should annoy him or not.

"I got it," Al suddenly said. "How about I tell my dad in a letter, that way he could tell your dad?"

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," said Scorpius, feeling doom looming. "He might get upset."

"Well, how else are you supposed to tell him? Isn't there a way you could tell him in the letter without even saying it?"

"I dunno…"

Scorpius didn't want to tell his father, but if someone else told…

"Look," said Al. "I'm writing to my dad again tonight. I already told him in my last letter that you're my friend. I don't know if I said specifically that we're in the same House. I'll do it in the letter tonight and see if he says anything to your father about it."

Scorpius frowned. He knew he should tell his father in his letter, but he was so scared of rejection… "No, that's all right, Al. I'll do it."

He wrote to his father that night, but he didn't necessarily tell him what House he was sorted into.

.-.

About a week had gone by since Scorpius had written to his parents, and he hadn't got a response. He wondered if his father actually figured it out and this was his way of disowning him. He didn't sleep well for the past two nights, and he couldn't eat a single bite.

Albus noticed, even though Scorpius was doing everything he could to show that he was fine. Obviously, it was so apparent that even Rose noticed. During one of the classes that Gryffindor first years had with Ravenclaw—which was Charms—Rose had approached Scorpius about how he was feeling. Scorpius accidentally snapped at her, but then later apologized for it. He knew that if he'd been his father, he wouldn't have gone soft and said the 'S' word, but he was feeling guilty. Plus, in a way, Rose had become a friend—even if she was a bit of a teacher's pet.

During one morning, Scorpius was feeling even worse, because Albus had gotten a response to his letter from his father.

Mr. Potter had said to Al that he was very proud of him, and not just because he was sorted into Gryffindor, Scorpius was sure. He wasn't sure what the entire letter said, but that was OK, because it was none of his business.

"No owl this morning?" Albus asked, looking sympathetic.

All Scorpius could do was shake his head and frown into his oatmeal. Why hadn't his father written back? Why?

His answer finally came the next day. Sitting at breakfast, next to Al again, he watched very carefully for the family owl to bring news, but there wasn't one. It looked as if James finally got a letter from home, though, and was grinning like a loon (Scorpius was madly jealous). On the other side of the hall, Rose also got a letter.

For some strange reason, James came over and sat across from Al, waving his letter in his hands and talking about something, but Scorpius wasn't paying him any attention. He was too busy moping and glancing up at the ceiling for the familiar Eagle owl that his father was sure to use. Still nothing.

"Ok, James," said Patrick Patil. "You've said your piece, now go away."

"Why so mean, Patil?" smirked James. "I can sit wherever I wish."

Patil didn't answer, only furrowed his brows and frowned at his eggs.

Scorpius recognized that surname, but he wasn't sure from where. Patil had darkish skin, but not as dark as Henry Thomas's skin, whom was sitting next to some brown-haired boy with a large chin. He couldn't remember his last name. Fink-Fleching, maybe?

Just as James was about to open his mouth and start spouting more nonsense, or whatever it was that he liked to blab about, there was a familiar clearing throat behind Scorpius.

He froze. Never in his life had he felt so scared as he did in that moment.

"Stand up and face me, Scorpius," his father said. Oh, bugger.

"Yes, father," Scorpius said, scrambling to get on his feet and nearly tripping over his robe doing so.

It seemed that the entire Great Hall had gone silent. Scorpius wished the floor would open up and swallow him whole.

"Now," his father said. "Mind telling me why you, yourself, didn't tell me about which House you were sorted in, and why I had to learn this from Harry Potter of all people?"

Scorpius's eyes widened in surprise, unable to hide it. "Mr. Potter contacted you?"

"Yes, and don't change the subject. Explain to me why I had to learn of your sorting from someone other than my own son?"

Scorpius's entire face went bright red. "I was—I was…"

"You were what?"

Scorpius wondered over and over why his friends weren't saying anything. Then it hit him; of course they wouldn't want to disrupt their conversation. This was his father talking, and no one interrupted Draco Malfoy when he spoke. Sure, his father wasn't as frightening as his grandfather, Lucius, but he could really look intimidating if he really wanted to.

Although wishing he could be anywhere but here, his vocal chords finally decided to work.

"I—I was scared."

He was expecting his father to start yelling, or tell him that he was disowned, or something. What he wasn't expecting his father to do was laugh. For a second, Scorpius thought it was the sort of laugh that got him punished, the one he used when something greatly amused him yet he was still annoyed. But no, his father didn't do any of those things. Instead, Draco went down on one knee to look his son better in the eye, and that startled Scorpius so much he almost fell over.

"Scorpius, if you're going to be a Gryffindor, then for Merlin's sake, act like one! A Gryffindor isn't scared."

"Actually, Mr. Malfoy," piped up a Gryffindor girl that was sitting nearest them. "Gryffindors do get scared, but bravery is where you overcome your fears, and…"

"Yes, I know that!" Draco snapped. The girl jumped, went red, and turned back around to stare at her breakfast. Draco went right back to looking his son in the eye, and Scorpius gulped. "I understand why you were afraid of telling me, but you mustn't worry; I won't disown you."

Scorpius's eyes widened again, this time with incredulous shock.

"Thank you, father."

"However," said Draco slowly. "If I hear that you went running off to do something incredibly stupid and brash without thinking things through first, I won't hold back on my punishments."

"Brash?"

"Hasty, foolhardy, reckless, irresponsible, careless… understand?"

Scorpius hung his head. "Yes, sir."

"Good." Draco patted his son on the shoulder. That took Scorpius by surprise. His father rarely showed any emotion like that in front of others. "Remember, just because you're a Gryffindor doesn't mean that you have to go off doing dangerous stunts, or try to be a hero. You leave that to the Potters. They have more lives than a cat."

"Yes, sir."

"And try to get a few friends from Slytherin, too. I don't want you always hanging around these Gryffindors."

Scorpius nodded. "Yes, father. Um, I'm already friends with a couple Ravenclaws, and a Hufflepuff…"

Draco sneered at the thought of Scorpius befriending a Hufflepuff, but didn't say anything about it. He stood and pointed over at the Slytherin table. "You see that dark-skinned young man at the end of the Slytherin table? That's Zabini's kid. You'll do well to be his friend."

"Yes, father."

"From now on, if anything happens, tell me. I don't want to hear it first thing from Harry Potter again."

"Of course, father. But, father?"

"Yes?"

Scorpius hesitated for a moment, and then finally said, "You didn't say anything about me being best friends with Albus Potter."

It was silent, except for a few coughs here and there, and some whisperings. Scorpius hoped that not everyone had heard their conversation, but he doubted he'd get his wish.

Finally, Draco sighed and said, "I don't really like it much… but I know that I can't force you not to be friends with him."

This time, his father finally looked at Al, and Al blushed from the way Draco's eyes were looking him over.

"Don't get my son into a lot of trouble, young Potter, or your father will be getting a Howler every time you do."

Scorpius expected Al to be nervous, but Al just sat there, back straight and eyes shining with something unfamiliar.

"Don't worry, Mr. Malfoy," said Al. "I won't let anything happen to Scorpius."

Again, his father surprised him: he smiled somewhat and nodded.

"See that you don't." Draco turned, and before he left to be at the head table, he looked back at Scorpius and whispered, "Don't lose him."

Then he left.

Don't lose him? Scorpius stared at Al, whom was staring back. Why would he want to lose his best friend?

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

I Will Not Lose You 02 

**Pairing:** Al/Scorpius

**Rated:** PG, this chapter

**Notes:** Post-epilogue, so that means that this fic has some spoilers for book seven.

Albus Severus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy, and Rose Weasley is eleven and getting sorted. James is a third year. Lily and Hugo are nine, Teddy Lupin is eighteen, and Victorie is seventeen.

**Summary : **It's Scorpius's first year, and he plans on making friends with a Potter... maybe even a Weasley. He finds he actually likes Al Potter, despite his original goal on getting Al to like him. It's not as hard to like someone from a different family than he thought.

**Warnings**: Possible (unintentional) innuendoes

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and its characters are not mine, but I'm only playing around with them. However, the Original Characters in here are mine and won't be used by anyone else without my permission.

.-.

What transpired between Scorpius and his father that evening spread through the entire castle. Everywhere Scorpius went, they stared at him; some looked as though they wanted to ask him questions but they seemed too afraid for some reason. Scorpius wondered if it was because of his father.

Maybe he should have tried to make the Sorting Hat put him in Slytherin.

"That was good of your father not to disown you," said Al, lying on his side on his bed, keeping his head propped up on his hand. Scorpius lay on his own bed next to Al's, staring at the canopy's underside.

"Yeah…" was all Scorpius wanted to say. He didn't feel like talking much at the moment.

"To tell you the truth," Al continued, not knowing that Scorpius just wanted to go to sleep. "I thought for sure that he was going to raise hell."

Scorpius just grunted, hoping Al would take the hint.

"Granted, I'm surprised your father actually showed up in person instead of writing you a Howler. I guess he just didn't want to humiliate you…"

Scorpius sat up and narrowed his eyes at his friend. "You call what he did to me not humiliating?"

Al shrugged, lying onto his back, placing his hands behind his head. "Well, I wouldn't like getting a Howler. I think what he did was great."

"And how do you figure that?" Scorpius hissed. He really wasn't in any mood to be debating about his father and wished he could just go to sleep.

"Well, think about it! He came here to talk to you about the issue, instead of hiding behind an owl and a piece of parchment."

Scorpius had to admit, Al had a point. Still, he knew how his father worked better than Al did. What his father did had now assured that Scorpius would no longer keep important things from him again; otherwise, he would just visit him again and 'scold' him in front of everyone. It was true that it could have been worse, but it was still bloody embarrassing all the same.

After a long bit of silence, the door opened and in stepped the other occupants of the dormitory. Henry Thomas was the first to enter, acting as if he were afraid he was treading on private territory as he made his way over to his own bed. Patrick Patil walked over to his bed and acted as if he didn't see the others in the room. Eddie Finch-Fletchley (that was his name, Scorpius now remembered) came in slowly, looking back and forth between Al and Scorpius nervously as he made it to his bed in the corner.

Scorpius didn't care too much for them, but he tolerated them just as they tolerated him. He always wondered if they were polite to him only because of Al.

The lights all finally went out, and Scorpius was relieved that they were finally going to get some sleep. He could tell that Al was restless by how many times he'd had tossed and turned. Scorpius was exhausted, eyelids extremely heavy, and he was just blissfully falling asleep when there was a sudden bang across the hall.

They all jumped from their beds, startled by the noise and anxious about what was happening. Being the Gryffindors that they were, they all took out their wands and carefully made their way toward the door. Only in their pajamas and slippers, they huddled together, allowing Al to be in the front. Scorpius stayed right behind him, determined to prove that he was brave after all, and also to let his best friend protect him if anything were to happen.

"Come on, let's go," Henry Thomas whispered harshly, taking a brave stance right beside Al.

Scorpius suddenly felt a rolling pain in his stomach from just the sight of Thomas standing next to Al. That should be him standing by Al's side! Not understanding what had come over him, Scorpius nudged Thomas out of the way and took his place on Al's right.

"Hey, what the hell?" said Thomas.

"I'm Al's second, not you!" Scorpius shouted.

There was awkward silence. Scorpius could feel heat creeping up into his cheeks. He fought the urge to duck his head and keep it down.

Al's face was shining; smile wide and eyes bright.

"I knew I could count on you," he said, voice soft and full of awe.

"Of course," said Scorpius, his courage being pulled together.

There were scuttling footsteps outside, and Al stepped forward to open the door, but the door opened before he could touch it and in stepped the Head Boy.

"All right, everyone?" he asked. "There were explosions going off in almost every dormitory. We're not sure what happened."

"We're fine," said Scorpius. "Other than annoyed that we got woken up, of course."

"I'm looking into it, so I would advise you boys just get back to bed."

The Head Boy shut the door, and they stood there for a moment or two before slowly making their way back to their beds.

Before Scorpius could crawl under the covers, there was a hand on his shoulder, spinning him around.

"Thanks," said Al, eyes still shining. The brilliance of them was nearly blinding Scorpius, and he didn't know why.

"For what?" Scorpius said, trying not to look too closely into those eyes.

"For showing that I can count on you when something happens."

Scorpius's face felt as if it were going to explode, it was so hot.

"You're welcome," Scorpius whispered.

Al leaned closer, and for a crazy moment, Scorpius thought Al was going to kiss him.

"You're a great friend," said Al, and then he moved away.

Scorpius stared at his best friend as he got into bed. What was wrong with him? They were only eleven. There was no way Al was going to kiss him; it was absurd!

Still, as Scorpius lay down and snuggled under his own covers, he wondered what his thoughts meant. Maybe he was seeing things because he wanted it to happen. Did he want Al to kiss him? Well, certainly not on the lips! But the cheek? Maybe.

He'd seen his parents exchange a kiss or two on each other's cheeks, and that didn't seem so bad. His parents loved each other, he was sure, and kissing people on the cheek was a show of affection, was it not? So, why couldn't he give Al a kiss on the cheek? It wasn't like he wanted to kiss him on the lips. He can't even contemplate kissing a girl!

"Just a friend," he whispered to himself in the dark. A friend, yes, but a close friend. Al was the kind of friend that would give you anything if you needed it. If you wanted the moon and stars, he was sure that Al would figure a way to do it. That was Al, that was the way he was: kind, caring, sensitive, giving, loving; Scorpius couldn't ask for a better friend.

He may have had a reason for wanting to befriend the Potter boy, but the reason no longer mattered. What mattered now was that Al deserved the best friend anyone could get, and that was going to be him.

.-.

First years weren't allowed brooms or to be on the Quidditch team, but that didn't mean they couldn't still go to the game.

It was Gryffindor versus Slytherin for the first match of the year, and it looked to him as if Al was very excited about it. He had a feeling that Al would most definitely be on the team next year, but he wasn't so sure he wanted to try for the team himself. He knew how to fly on a broom, of course, his father taught him. But Quidditch wasn't something that really interested him much. Sure, he'd gone to some games with his parents, and he did have a favorite team (the Montrose Magpies), but he didn't have the urge to join the school team. He had a feeling that his father hoped he'd get Sorted into Slytherin and become their Seeker, because his father had bought him a broom and had a practice Snitch for him to play with. It would take him a while, but he would finally catch it. When he first started to play, it took him hours to catch the elusive ball. There was even one time when he just gave up, and when his father found out, the look on his face made Scorpius feel horrible. So, he went back out to try finding it. About an hour later, he finally caught it.

His father finally admitted after a while that his son wasn't Seeker material, so he bought a Quaffle for his son to play with. That wasn't so bad, to be honest, but he kept dropping it whenever something startled him or… just whenever he wasn't feeling up to really playing. His father tried to make him practice every night (or every other night), but it just wasn't working. Then, thinking maybe he had a Keeper son instead, he played with Scorpius one weekend to see how he was at blocking.

After a while, his father gave up on that, and then bought Scorpius a bat, thinking he could be a Beater. Unfortunately, Scorpius just didn't have what it took to make a good Beater either. He could tell that his father wasn't happy because he stopped trying to train him and just had him practice flying without playing any kind of Quidditch game.

Scorpius felt horrible for weeks afterwards. He really wanted to please his father, but it looked as if he was nothing more than a disappointment.

"Hey, Scorps, wake up," said Al into his ear, a hand shaking his shoulder. Scorpius woke with a start, sitting up.

"Huh? Wot?"

"You fell asleep," whispered Al from behind his hand. Scorpius blinked, feeling woozy. Finally, he realized that he was in Astronomy class. The teacher, whom didn't notice him sleeping, was talking about the moons of Jupiter. Scorpius shook his head to clear it and tried to pay attention to what was being said.

"Thanks," he whispered back, and then tried to take notes.

Al leaned in again, keeping a partial eye on the professor. "You've never fell asleep in class before, what gives?"

"Nothing," he whispered back. "Don't worry about it and pay attention."

"I've been paying attention when you haven't," hissed Al. But the issue was closed and they both went back to taking notes. When class was finally over, Albus stayed close to him, as if he were ready to catch him should he fall over.

"Good lesson, huh?" said Rose as she caught up to them. "I'm especially excited about learning the constellations and moons. I know that we won't get to that lesson for a few weeks, but I'm glad that Professor Sinistra was giving us a taste of what is to come. What do you two think?"

Scorpius's mind was still reeling with all the facts they received about the Earth and their own moon to really care what they were going to learn about in the next few weeks.

"I think it will be interesting," said Al. "I mean, it'll be fun to learn about the planets, and about the day that it was discovered that Pluto wasn't really a planet."

"Oh, I know!" Rose said, excitement swimming in her eyes. "It's all so fascinating! Imagine, thinking something like Pluto was an actual planet. Well, it only goes to show that not everything is set in stone. Of course, we know Jupiter is a planet! How can it not be? I don't know which is my favorite planet, though. Which is yours, Al?"

Al, of course, was used to Rose's excited blabber when she got real interested in something, but it was giving Scorpius a bit of a headache.

"I like Saturn," said Al, smiling. Scorpius had to look at that smile. It made him feel better. "You know, all those rings… it's really nice to look at. What about you, Scorpius?"

"Oh, er…" he felt his cheeks heat up from being caught staring. Although he was sure that Al didn't notice that he was. "I don't know," he finally answered. "I guess I like Jupiter. It's the biggest planet in the Milky Way, right?"

"You're right, it is," said Rose. "But still, biggest isn't always the best. I'm rather fond of Mars, actually. That might be my favorite planet. It is very possible that there was life on Mars at one point."

Al and Rose continued to talk about the planets, but Scorpius tuned them out. Who cared about planets when they were supposed to have their first flying lesson tomorrow after Transfigurations class? What if he was bollocks at it? What if he couldn't impress Albus? What if he couldn't even get his broom up?

"All right there, Scorps?" Albus asked, waving a hand in his face. "You look kind of dazed… and a little sad."

"No, I'm fine," he said automatically. "Just thinking."

"Well, don't hurt yourself," teased Al, grinning. Scorpius stared, unable to take his eyes off Al's brilliant smile. "I was only kidding," said Al when Scorpius's facial features wouldn't change. "It's just a thing that I hear my uncle say a lot… Scorpius?"

"I'm fine, really… I'm not mad at you," he added quickly. "I guess I'm a little out of it."

"I hope you're not like this for class tomorrow," said Rose. "We need to make sure we pay close attention. I heard from my mum that it's very interesting, but there's a lot of work involved."

The common room was warm and relaxing. Scorpius crashed onto the couch and hoisted his feet onto the footrest, shoes off. Albus sat on the other armchair, watching him. They had to say good night to Rose, whom had to go the opposite direction to the Ravenclaw Tower, and the entire way up he and Albus hadn't spoken. It was a rare occasion, so Scorpius was sure that Al thought something was wrong. Well, there was something wrong, but he wasn't about to tell Al that.

"What's wrong?" Al asked.

See? He knew Al was going to want to talk. He couldn't talk about this with him, though. How could you tell your best friend that you were afraid of screwing up during flying practice in front of him? Al would probably just laugh at him.

"Nothing, don't worry about it," he said sharply.

Al frowned, and Scorpius felt really guilty for putting that there. He'd rather see Albus smile, grin, laugh… OK, so maybe he should tell Al what was on his mind. Even if Al would laugh at him, at least he wasn't frowning.

"Come on, you can tell me," said Al, placing a hand onto Scorpius's arm. It was really warm, but he felt a shiver going through his spine.

He sighed. "All right, but you must promise not to laugh… much."

"I promise," said Al, a serious and worried look in his eyes. Those eyes. God, those wonderful, green eyes…

"I'm… worried," he said slowly, looking away from the brilliance of those eyes. "About tomorrow."

"Transfigurations?" said Al. "I'm sure it won't be so bad on the first day."

"No… afterwards."

"What's afterwards?"

Scorpius turned his head back to stare at Albus. "What—you mean you don't know?" When Albus shook his head, it nearly made Scorpius laugh. "We're going to have our flying lessons tomorrow."

"Oh!" Al said, jumping from his spot from the couch. "That's right! I nearly forgot about that!"

"Nearly?" laughed Scorpius, feeling somewhat better. "I would say you completely forgot."

"Ok, so I forgot," grinned Albus. "But why does that worry you? I'm sure you'll be brilliant at flying!"

Scorpius looked away. "Well, I dunno… what about you?"

"I'm OK," said Al, his cheeks tinting. "Well, my dad says that I'm a natural, like him. I don't know, though. I might screw up."

Scorpius shook his head, not believing what he was hearing. Al had the same fears he did? "You won't screw up, Al. If anything, you'll be the best flier there."

Albus smiled brightly, and it made Scorpius smile in return. "You'll be good too, Scorpius," he said. "I'm sure of it."

Scorpius wasn't too sure about that, but the look in Al's eyes made him feel marginally better.

.-.

Albus was right; Transfigurations wasn't so bad. They were going to start small, and that was just fine with him. Others in the class were eager to get to the big stuff, but he wasn't. He was just fine with going slow. However, two hours later, they were outside, standing beside some school brooms. Nervousness soared through his body, and he couldn't concentrate. On his right stood Albus, all smiles and confidence. On his left was that Slytherin boy his father told him about, Zabini.

"Hello," he said, extending out a hand. "My name's Brant. Brant Zabini."

Scorpius shook his hand. "Nice to meet you. My father told me that I should get to know you"—why did he just say that?—"Er, I mean, well, he doesn't want me to have friends in only Gryffindor."

"That's right, you're Draco Malfoy's son. Our fathers knew each other. I don't know if they were that good of friends, but they knew each other. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Yes, er, and this is my friend, Albus Potter."

Al had been trying to keep his concentration, but at the mention of his name, he looked over. Zabini held out a hand for Al to shake, and being the nice person he was, Al took hold of it.

"Yes, of course," said Zabini. "Harry Potter's son. A pleasure to meet you as well."

"Er… thanks," said Al, blushing. When they released hands, Albus looked at Scorpius for an explanation, but before Scorpius could give him one, the flying instructor arrived.

"Welcome everyone, to your first flying lesson!" said the teacher. "Now, it's good to see that you're already standing where you're supposed to be by your brooms. Now, I want you to hold out your right hand, and say 'UP!' Ok, everyone? Let's give it a try now… and you must mean it. Don't be afraid of it."

Scorpius stuck out his right hand, swallowing hard, and trying with all his might to keep his feelings up. He wanted to show everyone that he could do this. He had done this so many times at home, so now all that mattered was getting his broom up in front of strangers.

"UP!" everyone around him cried. Some brooms didn't rise right away, they only stayed on the ground. Some just rolled around, bumping into neighbor's feet and irritating others, making them lose their concentration on their own brooms.

Scorpius steeled himself and, looking down at his broom, said, "Up!"

The broom rose about a foot off the ground, and then flopped back down again.

Albus looked over in sympathy at him. Scorpius felt heat rising into his cheeks. He knew it; he knew he was going to screw up in front of Al!

"Up!" announced Al to his broom, and it shot straight up into his hand at once.

Scorpius felt even worse.

"It's all right, Scorps," said Al. "Just don't be so nervous. I'm sure the broom senses that. Just relax, ok?"

Al was right, he was just being too hard on himself. He took a deep breath, put his hand out again, and with more confidence said, "UP!"

The broom rose to his hand immediately, and Scorpius clung to it as if he were about to fall out of his hand at any moment. He couldn't stop the grin from spreading across his face.

"Well done, Scorpius!" Albus beamed.

Brant had his broom already in his hand too, and Scorpius wasn't sure if he felt better or not. Looking around at the others, however, he could feel a bit better: some hadn't been able to get their broom up into their hands yet.

"Come on, you can do it!" the instructor said. "From the heart now!"

The others continually shouted at their brooms. Some finally went up into the hands of the owners, and others just rolled around. After a while, everyone had their brooms in their hands and were awaiting the next instructors.

"Now, mount your brooms, and keep a firm grip…"

Scorpius knew this part, easy. He mounted the broom, holding it the way it was supposed to be held, and waited.

After everyone was corrected with the proper way to hold his or her brooms, the instructor told them what to do next and blew her whistle. A few rose a few feet into the air, and then touched back down. Scorpius felt happy when nothing else happened to embarrass him, and he rose higher than any of the others in the class, save for Albus, who was a few inches higher. Scorpius suddenly felt the need to show off, so he rose higher. Seeing this, Albus also brought his broom up even higher. It had become a challenge to see who could get into the air the highest.

"Come down now, boys!" the teacher demanded. They were the only two that were still in the air. Scorpius didn't want to go back down, he was having too much fun. Yet, he didn't want to get into trouble, so he slowly descended from the sky and landed. Albus was still in the air.

"Mr. Potter, come down now, please!" the instructor called. Reluctantly, Albus did as he was told, but he had a goofy grin on his face.

"That was brilliant, wasn't it?" Al said.

"Haven't you gone flying before at home?" Scorpius asked.

"Oh, a few times, but not on a school broom like this one. Well, I did fly with my dad a few times, but that was it. I haven't flown on my own like this before."

"I'm surprised that your father has such a tight grip on you."

"Oh, it's nothing like that," said Albus. "It's mostly my mum. She knows that I'll become a good flyer, like dad, but they just want to make sure I'm ready, I guess. I don't know. Parents are weird sometimes."

"My parents let me fly all the time."

"Alone, without supervision?"

"Er, well… no, but that's understandable. I'm usually using my father's broom, and he wants nothing to happen to it."

"What about you?" Al said. "Doesn't he care about what happens to you?"

"Of course he does, but I don't fly high enough to really hurt myself."

After the flying lessons were over with, the three walked slowly back to the castle. It was close to dinnertime, and Scorpius was getting really hungry. Trying to impress your best friend took a lot of energy out of you.

"I'm starving," said Al, holding onto his stomach as if it were hurting. "I can't wait for dinner."

"Me too," said Scorpius. He looked over at Zabini, who had his head held high as he walked.

"You hungry too, Zabini?" Albus asked the Slytherin.

"Of course," said Zabini. "But you don't see me bellyaching about it."

"Isn't that what happens when you're hungry?" said Al. "Your belly starts to ache?"

Zabini snorted. "You're such a simpleton, Potter."

Scorpius wasn't sure why, but that comment annoyed him.

"Don't talk to Al that way," said Scorpius. He tried to keep his voice as non-threatening as possible, yet still firm. Zabini eyed him oddly, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing; yet he could.

"You Gryffindors going to gang up on me as usual?" Zabini demanded.

"What?" he said, stopping in his tracks. Al stopped as well, looking a little confused by this sudden shift in pleasantries. "We're not ganging up on you," said Scorpius hurriedly. "I just don't want you calling my best friend a simpleton, that's all."

"Well, I'm sorry to burst your bubble, Malfoy, but he is. I don't want to hang around simpletons."

Scorpius felt his blood begin to boil, and he was about to take out his wand to hex the smug arse, but Albus placed a hand onto his elbow to stop him. Scorpius looked over at Al with confusion. Al was shaking his head.

"Don't worry about it, Scorps. He isn't worth it."

Zabini snorted, but he wasn't sure if it was from amusement or what, and he walked away. Scorpius sighed, still shaking and worked up.

"Why'd you stop me from hexing the arse?" Scorpius said, taking his elbow back. Although, it had felt warm with Al's hand on it.

"Because I don't want you to get into trouble. Come on, let's go get ready for dinner."

Albus was right, but Scorpius still wished he could have hexed Zabini. Yeah, make friends with him, sure, father—as soon as Hell froze over.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

I Will Not Lose You 03 

Pairing: Al/Scorpius

Rated: PG (for now)

**Notes:** Post-epilogue, so that means that this fic has some spoilers for book seven.

Albus Severus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy, and Rose Weasley is eleven and getting sorted. James is a third year. Lily and Hugo are nine, Teddy Lupin is eighteen, and Victorie is seventeen (and in her seventh year).

Summery: It's Scorpius's first year, and he plans on making friends with a Potter... maybe even a Weasley. He finds he actually likes Al Potter, despite his original goal on getting Al to like him. It's not as hard to like someone from a different family than he thought.

**More notes: **The next part will be up fairly soon. I apologize for this chapter to seem like a fill-in, but I do have some ideas for future chapters that will have some of these things resurface.

Words: 3900

Warnings: Possible (un)intentional innuendoes

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and its characters are not mine, but I'm only playing around with them. However, the Original Characters in here are mine and won't be used by anyone else without my permission.

.-.

Scorpius and Al ran as fast as they could to the greenhouses. When they finally reached the one their class was meeting in, they both leaned against one side of the greenhouse door, holding their stomachs as they tried to catch their breaths.

"Good, you're here," said Professor Longbottom. "You must hurry with your assignment before everyone gets ahead of you."

"Yes, sir," panted Scorpius. All Albus could do was nod.

They had to repot a certain weed that was only known in the wizarding world as a helpful weed, and not one that hurts other plants. Muggles have been mistaking it for a deadly weed; therefore, they've been killing them by the hundreds. The Ministry now protected them so that they didn't go extinct.

Quickly, they prepared themselves to get dirty. Shucking their robes off, they replaced them with white Herbology robes, and placed goggles over their eyes. Al handed Scorpius a pair of gloves to use before slipping his own on.

They worked quietly together beside a pair of Hufflepuffs. Kenneth Chamberlain was on Al's right, and across from Kenneth was his partner, Samuel Bones. Samuel was, from what Scorpius understood, Elizabeth's brother, whom was born a day before she was (Elizabeth was a Gryffindor). To Scorpius, the two Hufflepuffs were nothing to really write about, but Kenneth didn't look too bad. He didn't look too good either. Then again, they were only eleven; they still had time to grow, so it was possible that Kenneth could grow into the huge conk of his.

The other two Gryffindor partners on their left seemed to have finished with most of their work. Scorpius was just getting his gloved hand into the soil when he heard one of them scream and the sound of a pot breaking. Everyone looked over automatically from the sound.

Professor Longbottom quickly strode over to the students. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Mara Macmillan pointed at the pot that she had dropped to the floor and stuttered, "It's—it's infested!"

"Infested?" Professor Longbottom asked.

"There were these white wormy things crawling all over the leaves!" the girl cried.

"Maggots?" her partner, Eddie Finch-Fletchley, gasped.

The professor knelt down to inspect the plant, mindful not to accidentally cut himself on the shards of the broken pot. "Ah, I see…" he said. "These aren't maggots, Mr. Finch-Fletchley."

"What are they, then?" Eddie asked.

"Why, you two have stumbled onto something rare. These insects are symbiotic."

"Sym—symbolic?" said Mara.

"No, _symbiotic_," explained Professor Longbottom gently. "It means the two living organisms are beneficial to one another; they help each other to survive."

During the next fifteen minutes, Professor Longbottom explained about the white worm-like things on the magical weeds, on how they helped the weed to grow, and how the weed helped the worms to survive. There was even magic involved, but Scorpius wasn't sure if that was completely true or not. He had to admit that it was rather fascinating. However, the part about the worms' feces helping fertilize the plant was something he could have done without knowing.

"OK, class, that's enough about that. Let's get back to work now."

Scorpius was just about to go back to his plant, when he noticed that Al was no longer standing beside him. He looked around and finally found him on the floor, on his hands and knees, helping Mara Macmillan pick up the broken pieces of her pot.

"Thanks, Albus," she said, blushing furiously.

Scorpius felt annoyed. He discretely shuffled over and kicked Al lightly on the back of his thigh. Al turned around, brows furrowed.

"What was that for?" he demanded.

"Let her partner help her clean it up," Scorpius hissed under his breath. "You're MY partner. You need to be helping ME."

"I'm just being polite," said Al, looking aggravated. "Anyway, her partner is over there, talking to Patrick."

Scorpius turned his glare at the two Al had nodded his head at. Sure enough, Eddie was standing with Patrick Patil and his partner Henry Thomas. He felt even more annoyed by it, but he wasn't sure why. It wasn't his business what the others do, but still… why wasn't Eddie helping Mara to clean up? It didn't seem fair.

Without thinking about what the consequences might be, he stormed over to the other three boys. They were in such a deep conversation about Quidditch and teams that they didn't notice him standing there, until he cleared his throat.

"Finch-Fletchley, why aren't you helping your partner?"

Eddie looked around Scorpius's body and down at the two. Albus was still helping her. Eddie shrugged and looked at Scorpius again.

"Albus has it under control," was all Eddie said.

"Albus is MY partner, and he's supposed to be helping ME with OUR assignment, not doing what you should be doing!"

Eddie's face went scarlet, and Scorpius wasn't sure if it was from anger or humiliation or both. He got more into Scorpius's face and poked him in the chest. "Don't tell me what to do, Malfoy. You're not my mother!"

"No, but has your mother ever taught you manners?" Scorpius sneered.

"Mara's fine! Albus is taking care of it!" Eddie huffed, obviously bothered by the mother comment.

"So you're just going to stand around and do nothing?" Scorpius shouted. He had a few nice choice words he wanted to call the other boy, but Professor Longbottom interrupted him.

"What's wrong, boys?" he asked.

Scorpius piped up immediately. "Finch-Fletchley isn't helping his own partner clear up the mess!"

Neville took in the scene quickly, and understood what was going on. "I see. Albus, as much as I like it when others help each other, I would like you to just concentrate on the assignment you're doing with Mr. Malfoy here, and let Eddie help his own partner. And Mr. Finch-Fletchley, please be more considerate to your partners, OK?"

Scorpius felt smug, but Eddie was glaring daggers at him. It wasn't Scorpius's fault that Finch-Fletchley wanted to do nothing but goof off.

.-.

"Wow, did you see Eddie's face?" said Al as they made their way back to Gryffindor Tower. "He wasn't very happy with you."

"Serves him right, the idiot. I know you were just trying to be nice, Al, but next time just remember that you're my partner for Herbology and no one else's!"

Al hummed at that. Then he said, "Honestly, Scorpius, it's not that big of a deal. Don't let Eddie annoy you too much. He _does_ live in our dormitory."

It still seemed like a big deal to Scorpius, but he didn't want to comment further in case it angered Albus. The last thing he wanted right now was to upset Al.

Henry Thomas and Patrick Patil were walking behind them when they reached the stairs. They were chatting away about Quidditch until they got inside the common room.

"Hey, Scorpius," said Henry. "Don't let Eddie bother you too much. He just thinks that everyone should do everything for him, just because his father was in the war."

"Almost everyone's father was in the war," said Albus, suddenly looking very irate.

"Yeah, I know that," said Henry. "So was mine. Let's not talk about it when he comes in, though. I don't want anything to catch fire again."

Scorpius snickered. A couple days ago, Albus had gotten angry about something someone said (he couldn't remember what it was, but it had something to do with Al's father), and he'd accidentally set the curtains on fire. The good news was that it wasn't Scorpius's curtains… or even Al's. It was Eddie's.

"Hey, did you know that my father named me after your father?" Henry said to Albus.

Albus blinked, staring at Henry's sudden declaration as if Henry had just told him he was thinking of dancing around the common room naked.

"So were a handful of other kids," said Patrick, sitting heavily onto his bed and swinging his feet back and forth, knocking his heels on the bottom frame of the bed. "Harris Duncan, for one."

"Harold Kemp, that Ravenclaw," said Henry.

"Hey, what about Hattie Cauldwell? That's a female version, I think."

"Wait, isn't there a Hal, too?"

"He's a third year."

"Oh yeah," said Henry. "He hangs around James."

Scorpius rolled his eyes and got ready to take a bath. Working in a greenhouse for an hour can really get you dirty. After a while, Albus followed suit, and they made their way toward the bathroom that was only for first years.

"Isn't that just the way?" said Al, nearly whispering. Scorpius had a feeling that it was meant for only him to hear. "Others naming their kids after MY father."

"Well, your dad's a hero, isn't he?"

Albus was silent for a few moments, and then slowly nodded his head. "Yeah… yeah, he is."

"What's wrong?" Scorpius asked, stopping Albus from going any further. They were only a few feet away from the bathroom.

"Nothing," said Al, automatically.

"It doesn't seem like nothing," said Scorpius. "Come on, you can tell me."

"It's nothing, Scorps, just drop it." Albus moved around Scorpius to get to the bathroom. Scorpius wanted to stop him again, but decided to just follow him inside. Once the door was shut and locked, Albus started to remove his robes.

"Look, I'm your best friend, right? You can count on me for anything, remember? I won't make fun of you, whatever it is."

"You wouldn't understand," grumbled Al. He was stripped down to his underpants.

Scorpius grabbed his elbow and spun him around. "Try me."

Albus looked like he wanted to argue the matter further, but then his body went limp, as if all the fight was out of him, and he slumped against the wall. He wouldn't look at Scorpius as he started to talk.

"I know I was named after two great Hogwarts Headmasters, and that's all fine and dandy. Albus Dumbledore was one of the greatest wizards that ever lived, according to the books and everyone else that knew him. Severus Snape, however… well, I don't know that much about him, yet only a few others have mentioned him, and how great he was, that he was a great help during the war. I can't remember everything my dad says about him, but from what I understand, he was a spy for the good side, always risking his life by being around Lord Voldemort."

Scorpius nodded in understanding. His father had told him some things about Severus Snape, and most of it was good. He heard that Snape was a spy too, but he wasn't told much about Snape's personal history. It was like the man was a mystery even to those that had known him.

Albus ran a hand across his face and sighed. "I know it shouldn't matter, but… it does bother me, a little, that I haven't been… you know… that I wasn't named after him."

Scorpius's eyebrows rose. He was a little surprised. "You'd rather be named after your father?"

Albus shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant. "Yeah, something like that. Actually, it's no big deal, really." He smiled, trying to show that it wasn't really affecting him that bad. "I understand that it would have caused some problems to have named me… if—if I was named after my dad."

"Yeah, I suppose it would be weird… because you look like him?" Scorpius tried.

"That and because I would be Harry Potter junior," said Albus, putting on a smile. "Yeah, it would be weird. I mean, James was named after our grandfather, who was killed before my dad even got to know him. And Lily was named after our grandmother."

Scorpius really didn't know what to say to that, so he just started to get himself undressed and ready to take a bath.

Albus laughed suddenly, and it sounded kind of sad. "Look at me! Hurt just because I wasn't named Harry and other kids were, sort of, named after him! It's so childish, really."

"But you are a child," said Scorpius, confused.

"So are you," Albus pointed out. Scorpius shook his head; honestly, he already knew that!

"Yeah, I guess I am," he said, laying his robe on a hook. "Now, come on, let's get in the bath and worry about those sort of things later."

Albus still looked troubled, but he did as Scorpius said.

They helped wash each other's backs, and after a while, Albus began to smile brightly again. It was contagious, and Scorpius smiled back. Being with Albus like this made his heart flutter.

.-.

That night, Scorpius wrote to his father again, telling him how things went with Brant Zabini. He gave as much detail as possible, including what Zabini said to Albus. He wrote:

_I know that what Zabini said wasn't something I should have let bother me, but it did. You must think that I'm being soft, Father. But if Zabini couldn't stand being around Al, then I didn't want any part of being his friend. He was rude, and I won't tolerate any rudeness from anyone about my friends._

He sent it off with a school owl, since the family owl was still at home. Albus had even offered his own owl that his father had bought for him, but Scorpius politely refused. He told Al that he might need to use the owl himself to write home.

A few minutes later, Al did write home. Scorpius didn't bother to ask him what he wrote, because it was none of his business.

Albus stretched. "Well… I'm going to bed."

"Already?" said Scorpius, looking at the big grandfather clock in the corner. "It's only eight."

"I'm tired, though… I can't keep my eyes open."

"All right, I'm just going to finish my essay and then I'll be right up. Good night, Al."

"Good night, Scorps."

He rubbed his eyes a bit, before going back to his paper. He was feeling a bit sleepy himself. Maybe he should have joined Albus. He dipped his quill into the inkwell, slowly, and was about to continue writing when the fire in the hearth flared to life, startling him. Ink splattered across his paper, and he swore.

"Watch your language, young man," said his father's head, which was floating in the fireplace.

"Father! This is a surprise."

"Yes," said Draco. "I was wondering whether you were going to owl me, and I couldn't wait."

Scorpius wanted to laugh, but he held it in. "Actually, Father, I just sent you an owl. You should get it in the morning."

"Ah, I see. Sorry for not trusting you enough with keeping me up to date, but since I'm here, why don't you tell me a few things that you've said in the letter."

"Oh, um, OK." Scorpius set his homework aside (still stained with ink) and went down on his knees in front of his father's floating head. "Is there anything you wish to know at this moment?"

"I've been wondering about how things went with the young Zabini."

"Ah, yeah… I did write about that in the letter."

"Care to tell me about it now?"

Scorpius chewed on his bottom lip. He wasn't so sure he wanted to talk about it face to face. He had no choice in the matter right now, because if he continued to stall, his father would think something worse happened.

"Well, father, it's like this…"

"Go on."

Scorpius licked his lips, which had suddenly gone dry. "Well, you see, it didn't go so well."

"And why is that?"

Scorpius gulped. "Um, well, because… because he was being a git," he said real quickly.

"What?" said his father.

"He was being a git," said Scorpius, a bit slower this time.

"He was disrespectful to you?"

"Er, kind of."

"What do you mean, 'kind of', Scorpius? Explain yourself better."

Scorpius looked away, unable to meet his father's eyes. "He was being rude… to Albus."

When his father didn't say anything right away, he looked back at his father's face. His father looked somewhat confused, and maybe a little disappointed. Scorpius felt his heart plummet.

"Scorpius…"

"He called Al a simpleton!" Scorpius said, a little too defensively. "And I won't stand for anyone calling my best friend names!"

Draco's top lip curled up slightly, and Scorpius wasn't sure if he was trying not to smile or if he were sneering.

"I see," he finally said. "You were defending your friend."

"Yes," said Scorpius, glad that his father understood. "And no matter what you say, father, I won't try befriending Zabini. If he's going to treat Albus like crap, then I want nothing to do with him."

"Did you ever stop to think about why he was behaving like that in the first place?" Draco said, voice slightly firm. No, Scorpius didn't wonder why Zabini was being a git, so he shook his head. "Because," his father said, "it's possible that you misinterpreted what he meant when he said that he thinks your friend is a simpleton. You see, in Slytherin, you have to maintain a certain poise and dignity when addressing others from other Houses."

"So he was being rude because Al and I are from Gryffindor?" said Scorpius, unable to believe what he was hearing. "But, Father, that doesn't make sense to me. You always told me that I should remember my manners when speaking to others."

"Yes, but did you or your friend remember your manners?"

Scorpius thought back to it. "As far as I can remember, yes, we did remember our manners. All we did was ask him if he were hungry."

"And what did he say?"

"He said he was, but he wasn't bellyaching about it."

"Were you two bellyaching about being hungry?"

"We were merely being vocal about how hungry we were, not complaining. It was like small talk."

"There's your answer right there, then, Scorpius. The Zabinis don't care for small talk. He was merely showing you two that he wasn't interested in the conversation at hand."

"But he was being rude!" Scorpius huffed. "He called Al a simpleton and said how he didn't want to hang around simpletons! In my book, he was being rude and I don't want to become friends with him." Scorpius folded his arms across his chest.

"Don't pout, son, and yes you will become friends with him. I won't have you only stick with the Gryffindors or the air-headed Hufflepuffs as friends."

"I have Ravenclaw friends…"

"But do you hang out with them?"

Scorpius opened his mouth to answer, but then stopped to think about it. He hadn't gone to see Rose in quite some time. He'd have to rectify that.

"You see," said his father. "You should befriend a Slytherin. If not Zabini, then try someone else."

"But, Father…"

"That's my final word on that subject, Scorpius. Now, I believe you should be going to bed. You have classes in the morning."

"Yes, Father."

He will remember to go see Rose straightaway, when classes were over.

.-.

The next day was Potions, and as Al and Scorpius hurried down the hallway to class, they accidentally bumped into Albus's brother James and his friend Hal Porter. Scorpius nearly fell backwards, but Albus caught him in time.

"Watch were you're going, pipsqueaks," said James.

"Shut up, James," snarled Al. "And you watch where _you're_ going!"

"I don't have time to fight with you, you're going to make us late for class. Come on, Hal."

When James rounded the corner, Hal said over his shoulder, "Excuse us," in a polite tone, smiling, and then followed James.

"Why is your brother such a git to you?" Scorpius asked once they reached the dungeons. "I don't understand it."

"I dunno," said Al. "I think it has to do with him being the oldest and that once I came along, two years later, he was no longer the center of attention, or something like that."

"Well, I'm glad I'm an only child so I wouldn't have to put up with toerag brothers," Scorpius sniffed. Albus laughed and slapped him on the shoulder.

"Come on, Only Child."

Potions was boring. Well, to Scorpius it was anyway, because he knew everything that they were being taught. He was glad to be sitting next to Albus, because Al didn't seem to know anything about Potions. He saved the classroom from being blown up when Al almost put in the wrong ingredient.

"Don't forget to take it off the fire first," he reminded him.

"Oh, right. Sorry," said Al, and then followed the right instructions.

Across the room, Scorpius saw Zabini and his little knot of friends. He tried to put on a friendly face, but Zabini just sneered at him and put his nose into the air. Well, it looked like he wasn't going to become friends with him after all. He could try apologizing, but he doubted that Zabini would accept it. There were other Slytherins he could try befriending. And if he was going to do it, Al should too. Why should he be made to suffer through having a Slytherin friend alone? Wasn't that what Gryffindors did, stick together?

He nudged Al softly when Al wasn't holding anything in his hands; safer that way. "Hey, I have a question."

"This is a first," sniggered Al.

"I'm serious here," whispered Scorpius behind his hand. "How do you feel about befriending a Slytherin?"

Albus halted in cutting his roots and looked over at Scorpius with confusion written all over his face. "You want me to befriend a Slytherin? Why?"

Scorpius sighed. "Because, my father wants me to have Slytherin friends. He thinks it would be good for me to have one, and not just hang around Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs."

"What about Ravenclaws?"

"Yeah, he's glad I have Ravenclaw friends, but he wants me to hang around them more. I'm thinking about finding Rose later tonight after class, or after dinner. What do you think? Wanna help me?"

"Help you find more friends?" said Al, feigning disinterest and hurt. "Maybe even help you find a new best friend? Sure, why not? I mean, what am I good for, anyway?"

"Oh stop it," Scorpius nudged Al in the ribs. "You're being over dramatic. I just figured that if Gryffindors stick together, do things together, you know… help each other, that you could help me find a Slytherin friend. Maybe you could make friends with him too."

"If the others are anything like Zabini, you can forget it."

"I'm sure there are Slytherins that are much nicer than Zabini. Come on, Al, I'm in dire need here!"

After a few moments of silence and Scorpius staring at Al with huge, grey, puppy dog eyes, he sighed and gave in.

"All right, I'll help you! Besides, if you had been sorted into Slytherin, we'd still be friends, wouldn't we?"

"That's using your nut, Al!"

"Watch it, Scorpius!" said Henry Thomas. "Your cauldron's boiling over!"

"Oh Hippogriff balls!"

TBC

British terms:

Nut means 'head'

toerag means 'worthless, horrible person'


	4. Chapter 4

I Will Not Lose You 04 

Pairing: Al/Scorpius

Rated: PG (for now)

Notes: Post-epilogue, so that means that this fic has some spoilers for book seven.

Albus Severus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy, and Rose Weasley are eleven and getting sorted. James is a third year. Lily and Hugo are nine, Teddy Lupin is eighteen, and Victorie is seventeen (and in her seventh year).

Other siblings (I discovered on JKR's site):

Dominique and Louis: Bill's kids.

Molly and Lucy: Percy's kids.

Fred and Roxanne: George's kids.

Warnings: Possible (un)intentional innuendoes

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and its characters are not mine, but I'm only playing around with them. However, the Original Characters in here are mine and won't be used by anyone else without my permission.

.-.

"Hey, Rose, there you are…" Scorpius panted, holding onto his stomach.

"Oh, hey!" said Rose, surprised to see him standing next to her table. "Why are you—Scorpius, were you running?"

Scorpius smiled, a little embarrassed. "Guilty, as charged. Maybe I sit down?"

"Be my guest," she said. She had to admit, she was greatly amused by the fact that Scorpius had run to the library to see her. "What's up?"

"What do you mean?" Scorpius said, getting his breath back. He set his book bag by his feet, relieved to have that weight off his shoulders.

"Well, there must be some reason why you ran all the way here, to see me." She smiled at him, trying her best to sound nonchalant. The curiosity was killer her inside.

"Just didn't want to miss you, that's all." When Rose lifted one eyebrow, he explained, "I mean that you might not be here too long, and if I came later you might have gone already."

She giggled. "Oh, I see. Well, then, tell me what's on your mind."

Scorpius looked around the library, double-checking to see if anyone was nearby, and then leaned in closer to her and said in a low voice, "I want you to help me befriend a Slytherin."

Rose blinked, eyes wide. "Er, what?"

"My father told me that he didn't want me hanging around only Gryffindors, and basically ordered me to befriend a Slytherin. He wanted me to choose Brant Zabini, but that didn't go over so well. Do you know of anyone that wouldn't mind being my friend? Or at least pretend to be my friend?"

Rose snorted. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean… er, I don't think it's a good idea to have a Slytherin pretend to be your friend. Things might blow up in your face. But I will help you to find an actual Slytherin friend."

"Thank you, Rose," smiled Scorpius. "You have just saved my neck."

"I'm curious though," she said. "Why isn't Albus helping you with this?"

"Oh, he is," said Scorpius, voice back to normal level. "It's just that he's busy right now, with homework. I finished mine last night. When I find a Slytherin friend, he—that is, the Slytherin—is to be Al's friend too."

Rose laughed. "Oh really? Does Al know about this?"

"Of course he does!" Scorpius said in a low tone. He didn't want the librarian to get on his case for being too loud. "I already asked him. He said he'd help me find a Slytherin friend. I was just thinking that you helping me too would give me a much better chance. Besides, we need to hang out more."

"Oh, do we?" said Rose, highly amused.

"Yes," said Scorpius, trying to put on airs. "You're my Ravenclaw friend, and I need to hang out with you more. Father's orders."

Rose continued to laugh. "Oh, Scorpy, you're such a card! OK, we'll _hang out_ more."

Scorpius bent over to open his book bag and take out his Potions notes. "Great, then we can study together. I know that you have Potions with the Hufflepuffs, but since we're in the same year, we could still help each other out. I mean, I don't need that much help, and you being a Ravenclaw…"

"I get it already," she smiled. "We'll study together."

They first began to study quietly on their own, looking over their own notes, but then Scorpius switched over to sit next to her instead of across. They were debating on the best ways to take notes and keep them in order when someone sat down in front of them, where Scorpius had been sitting minutes ago. He knew who it was without looking and before he even heard him speak.

"Hey, guys, what're you doing?" asked Albus.

"Studying, of course," said Rose. "What does it look like?"

"Looks like you two are pretending to study in order to secretly kiss," said Al, grinning.

Scorpius and Rose stuck out their tongues at the same time, pulling grossed out faces.

"Oh, ew, Al!" said Rose.

"Ick!" said Scorpius, face all scrunched up. "Don't even think about that!"

Albus snickered behind his hand, obviously very amused. "What? Don't you like girls, Scorps?"

"I like girls just fine," said Scorpius. "I just don't want to kiss them."

"Oh, you'll want to when you get older," said Rose, deciding to join Al in the teasing.

"I don't think so!" Scorpius huffed, and then he tried to go back to studying, but Albus kept staring at him. "What?" he demanded.

"Nothing, nothing," said Albus quickly. He looked behind him and around the bookcase, and then back at Scorpius. "I saw a Slytherin alone at a table on my way here."

"So?" said Scorpius. He was trying to study!

"So, don't you want to make friends with a Slytherin?"

Scorpius raised his eyes and nothing else. "You wouldn't mind befriending a Slytherin, too?" he asked softly.

"Why not? Isn't that what we agreed on?"

"He asked me to help him find a Slytherin buddy too," said Rose, amused. "So, who is this Slytherin you saw?"

Al turned slightly in his chair and pointed at the other side of the room. "Him, there," he said.

There was a table, much the same as the one they were sitting at, next to a portrait of a lady with a flower dress on. At the table, there was a lone, hulking figure slumped over a book with his head prompted on his hand.

"Hey, I know him," said Scorpius.

"Really?" said Al. "Well, is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Depends," said Scorpius.

He was pretty sure he knew who the person was, and he wasn't sure if he really wanted to talk to him. It had been years since he had seen the other boy, so he wasn't sure if he cared to see Scorpius.

"Well, if you know him, why don't you go talk to him?" said Rose. "I'm sure he is way nicer than Zabini."

"Are you sure about that?" asked Albus. "He seems kind of… gruff."

"He can be," Scorpius admitted. He continued to stare at the Slytherin boy, and then decided that he might as well give it a try. At least, if he were rejected, he wouldn't have to worry about mending bridges. He stood and slowly walked over to the other's table.

Albus and Rose watched as he got closer, and then finally stopped right next to the other boy. His body was in the way, so they couldn't tell what either of their expressions were.

Scorpius cleared his throat, getting the other's attention.

"Long time no see."

The boy looked up with slow eyes, and Scorpius could tell right away that he wasn't in a good mood. He tried to put on a polite face.

"Oh, it's you."

"Look, I know that last time we talked I was kind of… well…"

"Rude?"

"Er, if you want to used that word, sure," said Scorpius nervously. "I wasn't thinking, to be honest. I didn't mean it when I called your father a… you know…"

"Whatever, Malfoy," he said, looking back at his book.

"Please forgive me, Drake," said Scorpius. "I know that our fathers were both… idiots… at school. I know that they thought they were only doing what they thought was best at the time…"

"Why are you here?" Drake asked in a deep, demanding voice.

"Er, listen, I—"

But he was cut off as an explosion from somewhere shook the entire library. A few books tumbled off the shelves, but some of them stopped falling in mid-air and leaped back up to their original spots. A few of the books that did fall reacted in different ways; one book flew open and a soft cry was heard in its pages, another book bounced a few times and then landed on top of a girl's table, startling her; one other book opened itself and began to fly around the room in panic, screeching like a bird. The librarian took out her wand and tried to put things back in order. One of the books got away and began to fly around the ceiling.

"What the hell was that?" Drake said. Albus and Rose joined Scorpius by Drake's table.

"Another explosion?" said Albus. "I thought the person that did it was caught last time."

"I didn't hear about the person responsible getting caught," said someone behind them. They all turned and saw a sandy blond haired boy, a little taller than Scorpius, with a yellow and black tie on. "I think the person causing these explosions got away with it last time. I'm betting it's a Slytherin."

"Oh, do you?" said Drake, narrowing his eyes at the Hufflepuff boy. "And what makes you so sure?"

"Er, oh," said the Hufflepuff, finally realizing that Drake had a green and silver tie on. "I… er, that is to say…"

"We shouldn't be suspecting certain Houses," said Rose. "It'll only cause disorder."

"She's right," said Albus. "And, er, who are you?" he asked the boy.

"The name's Kenneth," he said. "Kenneth Chamberlain. I believe I know who you are: Albus Potter, right?"

"Yes," said Albus. "Er, nice to meet you, Kenneth. Um, this is my best friend, Scorpius, and my cousin Rose. And, er…"

"This is Drake," said Scorpius, saving Al the trouble of asking what the Slytherin's name was. "Drake Goyle."

Albus stared at Scorpius in shock. He'd heard about the Goyles, but only as hearsay. Weren't they ex-Death Eaters?

"Oh, Goyle…" said Kenneth. "Yeah, I've heard about your family."

Drake stood. "What about them?" he demanded, fist clenched and elbow cocked back as if waiting for an excuse to punch the Hufflepuff.

"Oh, nothing, nothing!" said Kenneth quickly, waving his hands. "Just that… you know, I heard that they… well, you know…"

"No, I don't know," said Drake, red in the face and looking murderous. "Tell me, Chamberlain."

Scorpius moved to Drake's side, and Albus moved to Kenneth. Rose was looking confused as to what to do in the situation.

"Let's not start something," said Scorpius. "The librarian isn't too far away and she might kick us out."

"What's so bad about that?" Drake demanded. "I can just go study in my common room."

"Well, I don't want to leave the library, even though someone did try to blow it up."

"I don't think someone was trying to blow up the library," said Rose, looking thoughtful. "I think it came from down the hallway."

A few minutes later, they all decided to sit at a table again, this time they had two extra people with them: Drake Goyle and Kenneth Chamberlain. Scorpius had no clue why Kenneth wanted to sit with them. Perhaps he thought he was gaining them as friends during a crisis. Trust a Hufflepuff to think that everyone should be their friend.

"What do you think happened?" Albus asked them. "Should we go investigate?"

"You go, if you want to so badly," said Goyle.

"I'm sure the teachers have it well under control," said Rose.

"I hope no one is hurt," said Kenneth. "That wouldn't be good."

"No kidding," said Goyle, rolling his eyes.

"I wouldn't mind knowing what's going on," said Scorpius. He was feeling too agitated to do any more studying. Every time he tried to read something, his mind would drift and he couldn't concentrate on the subject at hand.

The others in the library had left, no doubtingly wanting to see what had caused the explosion. They stayed at their table, talking about the 'what ifs' when a teacher walked up to them.

"You can go to your respective common rooms now," she said. "There's no need for you to stay here right now."

"What happened, Professor?" Rose asked.

"We're looking into it," she said in a no-nonsense tone. "Now, go back to your Houses."

Scorpius didn't want to; he was actually enjoying his talk with the others, but he knew better than to argue with authority. Albus looked like he was about to argue, but Rose nudged him and gave him a look. Albus backed down.

Together, they all walked out and down the hallway. They said goodbye to Drake first, since he was heading down into the dungeons. He just politely nodded and left. Kenneth said his goodbye when they neared the Hufflepuff territory. He entered what was the Hufflepuff common room after whispering something to the wooden door. Then, Rose left them, going up to the Ravenclaw Tower, and they were alone.

"Well, now your dad will be happy that you made a Slytherin friend," said Albus.

"Hopefully I did," said Scorpius.

"And a Hufflepuff friend," Albus smiled.

"That's two, then."

"Who is the other Hufflepuff?"

"Melanie Meriwether."

"Oh, I think I know who that is," said Al. "She's nice."

They made it up to the portrait of the Fat Lady. It looked like she was knitting something. Scorpius wondered where she got the yarn.

"Um, what was the password again?" said Al, looking lost… but in a cute way.

"Tarantallegra," said Scorpius.

"Correct," said the Fat Lady, and allowed them entrance.

The moment they stepped into the common room, they heard the sounds of a musical instrument being played. Albus was looking around as if he was expecting to see a phonograph sitting nearby, but it was actually one of the students playing. Poor Albus was looking confused, but the sound that the instrument was making was enticing Scorpius. They moved closer to the front of the fireplace where the sound was coming from.

"Isn't Connor wonderful?" said Roxanne Weasley, scaring the living daylights out of them when she suddenly appeared next to them. She sighed in contentment.

Scorpius stared at her in bewilderment.

"Oh, hey, Roxie," said Albus. "Scorpius, this is my cousin, Roxanne, but I just call her Roxie. She doesn't mind."

"Another cousin?" said Scorpius.

"Yeah, she's my Uncle George's daughter."

"And who is that?" he asked, pointing to the one playing the saxophone.

"That's Connor Kimball," said Al. "He's a friend of James's, although I have no idea why."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Connor's cool," explained Al.

"And James can be an arse," said Roxie, smiling. She continued to stare at Connor with stars in her eyes. Scorpius understood why, in more ways than one; Connor was cute, and he was very good at playing his instrument. When Connor was done, the entire room clapped, and Scorpius was shook out of his daze and clapped too.

"Encore!" shouted Dominique from the back. He was another Weasley sibling, Scorpius remembered; Bill and Fleur's son. Scorpius realized suddenly that his father was right: the Weasleys do breed like rabbits.

"He's in Band," said Albus behind his hand as Connor obliged them and began to play another song. The girls were all swooning around him.

"You can actually pick to be in a Band here?" said Scorpius, stunned but pleased.

"Of course," said Al. "It's either playing Quidditch, join band, choir or take up art, and I would rather get on the Quidditch team, myself. I'm not musically inclined, and I couldn't draw something to save my life. How about you, Scorpius? You might make a good Chaser."

Before Albus was done with his sentence, Scorpius was shaking his head. "Nah, I'm no good at Quidditch. My father tried to see just where my strengths were when it came to Quidditch, but we discovered that I'm not cut out to play. Now, playing in a band: that I wouldn't mind!"

Albus frowned. "You're not going to try out for Quidditch next year?"

Scorpius put an arm around Albus's shoulders. "Al, my friend, let me be honest with you: I suck at Quidditch!"

Albus laughed.

"There's no way I'd make it onto the team. You go ahead and try out, I'm sure you'll get in. Whichever position you choose, I'm sure you'll be great."

"My dad thinks I'm a natural at playing Seeker."

"There you go, try out for Seeker!" Scorpius smiled, patting Albus on the back. "As for me, I think I'll just stick with music. It's always been my strong suit."

"Do you play anything now?" Albus asked. Most of the students in the common room were paying attention to Connor's playing. Every now and then, though, Roxie would look at them.

"Piano," said Scorpius. "My mother is an expert at it, and she taught me how to play since I was five. Around the same time my father was teaching me how to fly and play Quidditch."

When Connor was finished, he said his thanks to those listening and cheering him, and then began to put his saxophone away. Scorpius took the opportunity to talk to him. Without a second thought, he grabbed Al's hand and steered them through the crowd toward Connor. Halfway there, he realized what he had done and flushed hotly, but he didn't let go of Al's hand. Surprisingly, Al let him.

"Hey, Connor," said Albus, gently dropping Scorpius's hand. Scorpius missed the contact the moment he felt their hands slipping.

"Oh, hello there, Al," said Connor cheerfully. "I didn't think I'd draw an audience when I started to practice, but I guess I did."

"You're a great musician," beamed Al. "Um, my friend here would like to join band. Do you have any need of him?"

"Oh sure," said Connor. "We're always in need of players every year. Fortunately for us, first years can try out for band, unlike with Quidditch." He turned his attention toward Scorpius. "So, what instruments do you play?"

"Piano, violin, flute… a little… and drums."

"Excellent! We're always on the lookout for violin players. And you could even be a backup piano player, too. Two of our best violin players left Hogwarts last year, so I'm sure you'd be able to join."

"When can I do that?" Scorpius asked eagerly.

"You can talk to our Head of House any time today, if you like, and tell him you would like to join. He'll tell you when tryouts are."

"Great, thanks."

"So, Albus, is this _the_ Scorpius Malfoy that you hang out with day in and day out?"

"Yes," said Albus, blushing. "James told you, huh?"

"Of course," said Connor. "He doesn't like that you became friends with a Malfoy, but he's rather bias when it comes to making certain friends. I can see his point, but then again, I like to give people the benefit of the doubt."

Just as Albus and Scorpius agreed with him, the Head Boy came in.

"We didn't catch the culprit that set off the explosion in the girls' bathroom," he announced. "But we do know now that it was an enhanced Dung Bomb that did it."

"A Dung Bomb?" gasped Albus. Those still in the common room were shocked, and then they began to speak with their neighbors in quiet voices.

"Wow, that's quite advanced," said Connor. "Making a regular Dung Bomb into an explosive."

"Yes," said the Head Boy. "And we have a slight idea of who it could have been."

.-.

After talking with the Head of House about joining band, Scorpius decided to write home about it. Best that he told his father about his decision right away and not later; otherwise, his father might either come to Hogwarts again and embarrass him, or write him a Howler. He sent the owl off straightaway, and then got ready for Potions class.

He found Albus ready for him in the common room, and together they made their way to class. When they arrived, Scorpius spotted Drake surrounded by other Slytherins. To his horror and dismay, Zabini was one of them. He stuck with Al on the Gryffindor side of the room. The Potions teacher got them started on their potion for the day and they got too busy to do much else.

He worked beautifully with Al. Albus wasn't a wiz when it came to potion making, but that was fine. He ended up teaching Albus as he was doing his own potion. Once Al got the hand of it, he wasn't too bad. Potions class was obviously not Al's strong suit, though.

Once class was over with, Scorpius gathered up his courage and tried to approach Drake, hoping that he really did succeed in making him a friend.

"What do you want?" Zabini demanded, eyes narrowed.

"I just want to talk to Drake," said Scorpius.

"It's too bad that you can't, though," said Zabini.

"Why can't he?" Albus demanded on his right. Scorpius wasn't sure if he was happy to have Al by his side, he was worried that something might happen.

His suspicions were right.

"Go away, Potter," Zabini snarled. "We don't need to hear the opinions of the son of a has-been."

"The what?" Albus said, eyes glowing bright.

"You heard me," said Zabini, taking in the delight of making Albus go red with anger. "Your father's a has-been hero."

"_My dad is a great wizard!"_ Albus bellowed, and then when Zabini laughed, Albus leaped over and sucker punched him.

Chaos ensued. There were yells and wands going off (more sparks than anything), and Scorpius tried to pry Albus off of Zabini—who was sporting a fat lip—but he was shoved away by some other Slytherin, and then some of the other Gryffindors joined in the fray.

"What is going on here?" the teacher demanded. "Stop it this instant!"

Everyone stopped fighting. Henry Thomas, who had joined in to either defend Albus or get him out of the melee, was now clutching his nose, blood dribbling through his fingers. A Slytherin that was trying to help Zabini had a swollen eye, which was caused by Al's little flying fists of fury.

"Detention, Mr. Potter! No, don't you even dare argue with me. I don't care what provoked this fight, but I will not have this sort of behavior in my classroom. I don't care if class was over with, it was still not acceptable. And ten points from Gryffindor."

"But, Professor…"

"No, don't even start, Mr. Potter. You'll report to your Head of House for instructions on what your detention will be, and then you'll go to your common room and you'll stay there."

Albus sighed in defeat, shoulders slumped and head down. Scorpius rubbed his back.

"Sorry, Scorps," Al said softly. "I guess I won't be going to watch your band tryouts tonight."

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

I Will Not Lose You 05 

**Pairing:** Al/Scorpius

**Rated:** PG-13 (for now)

**Notes:** Post-epilogue, so that means that this fic has some spoilers for book seven.

Albus Severus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy, and Rose Weasley are eleven and getting sorted. James is a third year. Lily and Hugo are nine, Teddy Lupin is eighteen, and Victorie is seventeen.

Other siblings (I discovered on JKR's site):

Dominique and Louis (and Victorie): Bill's kids.

(Dominique is a boy or girl's name, so I made it a boy. I'm guessing that Rowling probably made it a girl, though, but oh well)

Molly and Lucy: Percy's kids.

Fred and Roxanne: George's kids.

**Warnings:** Possible (un)intentional innuendoes

Words: 4500

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and its characters are not mine, but I'm only playing around with them. However, the Original Characters in here are mine and won't be used by anyone else without my permission.

.-.

Scorpius rubbed his temples as he stared down at his homework. When he learned of what Al's detention was, he almost wished he had been with him. Alas, it wasn't to be. Albus had to do his detention without him. When he got back from seeing their Head of house, he could tell right away that there was no good news.

"I'm to polish the trophies, by hand… no magic… in the trophy room." Al had told him.

"I wish I could have helped you with that," Scorpius had said. "But you know how teachers are. Besides, I have too much homework to keep up with, and I can't afford to do detentions."

Al sighed and looked away. Scorpius hated making Albus sad; it made his own throat tighten up.

"Look, I'm sorry, Al. I'm not trying to be heartless. I just don't know what to do or say when people pick on others' fathers."

"I know what you could do to make me feel better," said Al without looking at him.

"What's that?" Scorpius had asked.

"Don't tell my dad that I got a detention," said Al in a quiet voice. "I really don't want to disappoint him."

Scorpius agreed, but he wasn't going to say anything in his owl to his father anyway. That was Al's job. But if Albus didn't want him to say anything, then he won't. From what his father had told him, though, he didn't think Al's dad would really care if Al got a detention or not. His father had told him that Harry Potter had gotten just as many detentions as his own father—James Potter, Al's grandfather—had gotten. He'd even heard about the infamous Weasley twins and all the things they had done.

The words on his parchment were starting to blur as he stared, and his head was feeling heavy. The big clock against the wall chimed eleven o'clock, but still he sat there, staring at his homework. He knew he wasn't concentrating, but he told himself that he'd stay up and wait for Albus to finish his detention. He was too curious to know how it went. It wasn't that he was too worried, of course not. He was sure that Al could take care of himself.

Just as his forehead had hit the table with a small 'thunk', Albus was sitting next to him, sighing tiredly. Scorpius jerked up, trying to stay awake, and looked at Albus.

"How'd it go?" he asked sleepily. "Anything go wrong?"

Albus shook his head, looking sad as well as tired.

Although Scorpius was half-asleep, he could still tell that something was bothering his friend. "What's wrong, Al?"

Albus shook his head again, frowning. "Nothing," he said softly. "It's nothing."

"It doesn't look like nothing," said Scorpius.

"Just leave it, please?" Albus said. "I'm too tired to talk now."

If he weren't so tired himself, he would have argued the issue. As it was, he was just as dead tired as Albus, so he agreed. "Yeah, we can talk about it later, if you want to. Maybe we should go to bed."

Albus agreed, and together they slowly made their way up to the dormitory.

"Hey," said Al, as they got into their pajamas. "Thanks for waiting up for me. You really didn't have to do that."

Scorpius shrugged, his cheeks feeling warm. "It was no problem. I had homework to do anyway."

"Really, though," said Al. "Thanks for staying up. I really appreciate it." Al yawned, stretched, and then crawled under the covers. Scorpius got into his own bed and looked over at Albus. He wasn't sure what to say to him. His mind was mush from being so tired. He fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

.-.

There weren't many students wanting to participate in Band this year, it seemed. Only he and a Ravenclaw named Tam Fletcher had shown up for Band tryouts. Scorpius thought he had recognized Tam from when he was in Charms the other day. He had been mostly paying attention to Rose then.

"So," said Professor Flitwick. "You want to join band, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Yes," said Scorpius. He heard that Flitwick was one of the oldest professors to still be around after the Great War Against Voldemort. He also knew that Flitwick had been his father's Charms professor too, and as far as he knew, Flitwick was also still the Ravenclaw Head of House.

"We don't always need a violin player," said Flitwick. "We usually have the big brass instruments; especially for those special occasions, like the final game of Quidditch and other such events. However, you are the only one signing up to play violin, so you'll do. Granted, you're very good, but I think you can do better."

Scorpius knew this; his father had told him this before, and since then he'd been practicing almost every day, until he got his letter from Hogwarts, of course. He had even brought along his violin, just in case he missed playing it. He had no idea that he would need it and would be joining band.

"Mr. Fletcher," Professor Flitwick continued. "You're a good flutist, and you'll definitely improve this year, I know it."

"Thank you, sir," said Tam Fletcher.

"It's only natural that a Ravenclaw would be interested in joining band, so I had no doubts that we'd get another one. But I am surprised that a Gryffindor decided to join." He turned to Scorpius with a smile. "Most usually try out for the Quidditch team."

"That's understandable," said Scorpius.

"Then again, you are a Malfoy, and you're also your mother's son. She was in band too, and she played many instruments. I take it you can play more than just the violin?"

Scorpius nodded. "Yes, sir. I also play piano and the flute, and a little bit of drums. But my mother taught me the piano first. Although I love to play it, I've always been more interested in the violin."

"Excellent!" squeaked Flitwick. "You're definitely what I've been looking for in a violinist. Now, I want the both of you back here for practice next Monday morning right after breakfast. We'll have an hour before your classes start, OK?"

"Ok," said both Scorpius and Tam.

"Good. Now, I must get back to grading papers. Go on back to your common rooms."

Once they left Flitwick's classroom, they walked down the hallway in silence for a while. They had a little ways to go together before they had to split up and go to their separate towers. Whenever Scorpius opened his mouth to say something, though, he found he really didn't have anything to say, so he shut it and just looked ahead as he walked.

"Well, nice meeting you, Scorpius," said Tam. "I'm sure we'll get on just fine."

It was good to know that Tam wasn't judging him by who his father and grandfather were. Although, Tam could be judging him by what House he was from. No matter, Scorpius thought. As long as he could strip the old hatred from his family name, he was satisfied. He would do anything to get his family back in good graces with others. His father had done a pretty decent job with fixing most of their family's errors, but it didn't seem enough sometimes. Scorpius wanted to do what he could to help his father.

"Nice meeting you too," he said to Tam, holding out his hand. Tam took a firm hold and shook it. They parted ways, and Scorpius wasn't sure why he had a smile on his face. It must be the fact that he had made another friend.

.-.

That night, Scorpius was just finishing up his Charms and Potions homework when Albus came into the common room. He'd finished up his detention at last, and sat down heavily on the couch next to Scorpius. He sighed loudly, as if he thought Scorpius didn't know he was there, but Scorpius heard him coming the moment the portrait swung open.

"Done?" he asked, trying not to smirk. His right hand was moving nonstop across the parchment, but he was still listening for Albus's reply.

"Yes," said Albus, sounding out of breath. "And for good. I'm not going to get into trouble ever again."

"You're just saying that," said Scorpius, as if Albus was just declaring that he'd never eat chocolate again. "You'll be back for more."

"I doubt it," said Al.

Scorpius turned in his seat, leaned closer to Albus, and said in a spooky tone: "You won't be able to resist… mwahaha!"

"Oh, belt up!" Albus sniggered, pushing at Scorpius's shoulder lightly. "I won't get into trouble like that again. Honestly I won't!"

"They all say that," said Scorpius, covering the lower half of his face with his sleeve and peering over the top of his arm, trying to look like Count Dracula. "But they always come back for more!"

Albus couldn't help laughing, and he fell toward Scorpius, holding his stomach, and tried to look affronted by Scorpius's teasing. When Al's forehead touched Scorpius's shoulder, Scorpius felt his face burn.

"You're a laugh riot, Scorps!" Albus chuckled.

Just as they stopped laughing and giggling, Roxanne and Lucy Weasley came into the common room. From what Scorpius remembered, Lucy was Percy Weasley's youngest daughter; his other one was Molly, a Ravenclaw. He knew this because his father had always said that there were one too many Weasleys in the world, and it made Scorpius curious about the great multiplying family of the wizarding world, so he looked up information about them. His father caught him doing so and wasn't pleased, but he didn't ground him either. "You're too curious for your own good, Scorpius," his father had said. "You shouldn't be interested in the Weasleys, you need to watch out for them."

When Scorpius was looking up information about the Weasleys, he had just read about George Weasley's children, so he hadn't got to the part about Ron and his kids yet. His father instilled the fear to continue reading about them, although his father didn't necessarily tell him to stop. When his father left their library, Scorpius had a sudden pain in his chest and felt that he shouldn't continue. He didn't want to disappoint his father, so he stowed the old newspapers away and ran back to his room.

"Are you two still up?" teased Roxie. "Don't you know that it's time for ickle firsties to go to bed?"

"Oh, shut it, Roxie," said Albus. "It's not that late yet. Besides, I just got back from detention."

"Oh yeah," smiled Roxie. "How is the old caretaker? I hear he's really getting on in his old age."

"He's a grump," muttered Albus. Scorpius patted him on the shoulder.

Lucy folded her legs underneath her as she sat on the floor in front of them and fixed her glasses on her nose. "I hear that he's going to retire next year. Poor man. He lost his second cat, you know. Mr. Tattles."

Scorpius could care less about the old caretaker, but he stayed silent about his opinion. He knew that Albus didn't care that much for the old squib, but he still minded his manners.

"So, how did the Quidditch tryouts go?" Albus asked the girls.

"Oh, it wasn't terribly surprising," said Roxie. "They did get a new Beater, though. His name is Zeke Wright, and he looks pretty good. And I don't mean his facial features either."

"Bullock still Captain, then?" said Albus.

"Unfortunately, yes," said Roxie. "But all that will change when he leaves school next year. I have a feeling I know who the new Captain will become, but I'm not going to speculate too soon. I might be wrong."

Lucy laid back, hands behind her head, and sighed forlornly. "Sometimes I wish I was good at Quidditch; I would have loved to play on the same team as Hal."

Scorpius blinked, coming out of his stupor. He'd been slowly falling asleep in his chair, feeling the warmth of the fireplace against him; he thought about what Lucy said, and then closed his eyes in embarrassment when the picture of Hal dressed in Quidditch gear popped into his mind. He shook his head to try to get the image to go away.

"Yeah, Hal's rather cute, isn't he?" sighed Roxie. "But I wouldn't mind getting to know Connor."

"Oh, yes!" Lucy agreed. "Connor is so sophisticated and dreamy."

Both girls sighed, as if sharing a naughty daydream.

"Um, I think we should go to bed now," Scorpius suddenly stated as he stood from his spot. "We've got class in the morning."

Albus stood from his spot too, and watched Scorpius leave the common room as if he were in a hurry to leave the room. Albus slowly followed him after a minute had passed.

.-.

Scorpius was dressed in his pajamas in record time and crawled under the covers, nearly putting them over his head. Albus entered the dormitory a minute later and immediately went to Scorpius.

"What's wrong?" he asked the moment he sat on the edge of his bed. Scorpius knew he'd ask that.

"Nothing, just tired," said Scorpius under the covers. He peeked an eye over the top of them to give Albus a look he hoped would get Al to back down.

"I know it isn't nothing," persisted Albus. "Come on, you can tell me."

"If I tell you about this, then you have to tell me about that one thing that bothered you when you came back from detention."

If his father were there right now, he would praise him for being so sneaky.

Just as he thought, Albus stayed tightlipped. They stayed there in silence for a while, and then Albus stood and made his way over to his own bed.

"That's fine, then," he said after a couple long minutes. "If you don't want to tell me, then I guess that's your decision."

"Of course it is," said Scorpius. "And if you don't want to tell me what was bothering you, then that's your decision too."

Albus didn't respond. He just got into his pajamas and then into his own bed. He didn't say anything, and it was starting to worry Scorpius. He looked over at his best friend, but all he could see was the unruly mop-top Albus called hair.

He wanted to talk to Al, but he was afraid of making things worse. He was just thinking about getting up from his bed and going over to Albus when the dormitory door opened and in stepped the other boys. They were getting ready for bed, and Scorpius felt angry for some reason—possibly because they had interrupted what he was going to do—and turned over so that he couldn't watch them. Don't those morons know how to knock?

.-.

That morning, Scorpius was picking at his eggs and staring into the table's wood. He sighed tiredly and laid his cheek on one hand, spinning his fork over and over in the eggs, mashing them and spreading them out more messily on his plate. Albus sat down next to him, as usual, and began to dish himself up, not saying a word. Scorpius wasn't sure if that should bother him or not. Albus had always said a cheery good morning to all when he sat down to have breakfast.

"Our team is going to rock!" declared James as he sat on the opposite side of the table. He filled his plate up until there wasn't one empty spot showing. "I know this time we'll win the Quidditch Cup!"

Hal Porter sat beside James and began to pile food on his plate too, but he didn't take as much as James did. "Yeah, this time it will be different. Zeke Wright is an excellent Beater. He's about the same size as Ulric."

"Who is Ulric again?" Albus asked.

"Our Captain," said James, eyeing Albus like he was mad. "The one you call Bullock. But he won't be our Captain next year." He smiled as if he was extremely happy about this.

"There will be lots of different players next year," said Hal, nodding. "So if we don't win the Cup this time, we may have a better chance next year."

"Don't talk like that!" James gasped. "Of course we'll win this year!" He lifted his fist into the air and crowed. Hal looked embarrassed to be his best friend.

"Hey, how's it hanging?" said another Gryffindor, sitting beside James. "Ulric says there's a practice session Friday morning. Be ready."

"We will be, Trey. Let Ulric know that we'll be there bright and early!"

Trey nodded and got up to where Ulric Bullock was sitting having breakfast. Scorpius looked over, feeling himself go red at the sight that Ulric made. The man was a seventh year, and he was somewhat bulky and muscular. His face was angled, almost chiseled, and his eyes were sharp. Ulric almost looked like a Greek statue, or a Norse God. Scorpius had to look away.

"Wow, that Ulric is huge," said Albus. "No wonder he's the Captain."

"Still going to tryout next year?" Roxanne asked, a twinkle in her eye. James and Hal stopped eating to pay attention to what was being said.

"Yeah, of course," said Albus, smirking.

"Oh, great, just what I need," said James.

"Oh don't be so hard on your little brother," said Hal, smiling. "I'm sure he'd make a great addition to our team." He leaned over the table toward Al better. "What position do you have in mind? Hopefully not mine."

Albus smiled, and it seemed to have brightened up the entire Hall. "I'm going to try out for Seeker."

"Ah, good," said Hal. "I'm sure you'll be a shoe in."

Albus colored, and Scorpius felt like throwing his knife at Hal's head.

"I'm going to try out too," said Roxanne suddenly, as if she were afraid someone else would interrupt her. "I'm thinking Chaser."

"That won't be a problem," said Hal. "One of our Chasers will leave next year too."

James stabbed his fork into his sausages in what seemed to be anger. Scorpius raised an eyebrow at this, and when no one else would explain his behavior, he looked over at Albus.

"What's wrong with your brother?" he asked behind a hand.

Albus was smirking. "Oh, he's just annoyed that more family members might get on the team."

"What's so bad about that?" Scorpius asked, but Albus just shrugged.

After a while, the tension between them loosened up again, and Scorpius decided not to bother Albus again about what was wrong in case it made him stop talking to him altogether. He noticed that his stomach didn't feel as queasy any more, and he wanted to keep it that way.

On the way to Transfigurations, Brant Zabini bumped into his shoulder going the opposite direction. Elijah Parkinson-Greene was with him, laughing and smirking. Thea Nott walked passed the two Slytherin boys with an exasperated look, but said nothing. Scorpius glared at Zabini.

"Don't let them bother you," said Albus. "They just want to get a rise out of you."

A few minutes later, Drake Goyle and Baltazar Bulstrode walked by. Scorpius said hi to Drake, and Drake nodded back. Bulstrode looked confused but didn't say anything.

Transfigurations were over before they knew it, and they slowly started to walk back to their common rooms. Henry Thomas walked with them, and then Patrick Patil-Peterson joined them. Scorpius felt somewhat elated by this; he felt protected by whatever was thrown at him. A few minutes later, Mara Macmillan joined them, along with Elizabeth Bones.

On the way to the common room, the group of Slytherins was coming in the opposite direction. The hallway began to get smaller and smaller the closer they got, and soon they were glaring heatedly at each other. Well, not all the Slytherins were glaring daggers at them. Thea Nott, Charles Carmichael, Drake Goyle, and Baltazar Bulstrode were just staring blankly or neutrally.

"Look at the simpletons," said Zabini, and Elijah, Pritchard, Davis, Smith, and Pucey laughed.

"Shut it, Za—" Scorpius began, but then he was interrupted by a loud explosion. The hall shook, and most either fell over onto their butts, or grasped each other or the wall to steady themselves. Scorpius put an arm around Albus out of instinct, so that he won't fall. Thomas grabbed hold of Bones so she won't fall over, and Scorpius noticed that Carmichael did the same thing for Thea Nott.

"Jesus, that sounded close!" said Patrick. Brant Zabini moved away from the wall, and Elijah stood from the floor. There was silence for about a minute before the Head Girl came running down the hallway.

"Everyone all right?" she asked. "No one hurt?"

"We're fine," said Albus. "But what was that?"

"We're looking into it, Mr. Potter," said the Head Girl in a no-nonsense tone. "And don't even think of doing it yourself. All of you just go back to your common rooms now."

They did as told, and Scorpius kept one hand on Albus's back so that he won't try anything stupidly Gryffindor. His father told him to watch out for those kinds in the last owl he sent.

_"Especially those Potters," _his father had written. When they got inside the common room, Albus turned around and narrowed his eyes at him. This didn't look good, whatever it was.

"I want to know just who is causing these explosions!" Albus said. The others filed in, and only Thomas and Patil stayed with them, listening to what Albus had to say. "If there's something bad going on, I want to find out!"

"Well, you shouldn't," said Scorpius. "We're only first years, so what can we do? Besides, it's up to the teachers and older students to find out, not us."

"What kind of Gryffindor are you, Scorps?" said Albus. Scorpius wasn't sure if he should be feeling annoyed or grateful, because it's been almost a week since Al had called him by his nickname.

"I'm the kind that doesn't consider small explosions a big deal."

"You call them small?" said Thomas, exasperated. "They keep getting bigger and bigger every time."

"Henry's right," said Patrick. "That one was pretty huge. The one before that didn't even make me fall over."

"That's because we were closer to the explosion than last time," said Albus, sure of himself. "So, I'm guessing that we were probably near the culprit, and when we left, the person probably snuck out of his hiding place and went back to… whatever it was he was doing before. I'm sure that if we stuck around the hallway we would have caught them!"

"You're not thinking straight," said Scorpius, determined to make Albus understand. "I mean… you told me that you didn't want to get into trouble again, right? Well, if you disobey the teachers, then you will get into trouble."

"But if I find the culprit…"

"Albus," said Henry, placing a hand onto his shoulder—and Henry better pray that it was in a friendly way—and shook his head. "Please, don't do anything rash right now. Scorpius has a point; if we try anything tonight, we could get into trouble."

"What's all this 'we' stuff?" said Albus, eyes looking more dangerous and face going red. "_I_ am going to go see what's going on, not all of you…"

"If you go, you're not going alone," said Scorpius, his fists clenching and wishing he could punch Thomas in the face.

"Scorpius is right," said Patrick. "You shouldn't go alone…"

"If anyone is going with him, I AM!" Scorpius growled. Al, Henry, and Patrick stared at him in shock.

"No one is going anywhere," said a Gryffindor Prefect behind them. "Now go do your homework."

Patrick and Henry obeyed immediately, but Scorpius had to drag Albus over to the sofa.

"Think for a second, Al," he said, sitting next to him and keeping a tight hold onto Al's arm. "If you try to go now, you won't catch the person doing it anyway. I'm sure that whoever is behind the explosions is long gone by now."

Finally, Albus had to admit that Scorpius was right, and sunk into the cushions, looking defeated. Scorpius did his best to try and make Albus feel better. He tried to get Al to talk about Quidditch, but even that wasn't working.

"How about chess?" inquired Scorpius. "I might just let you win this time."

"No, thank you though, Scorps."

Scorpius sighed, pondering on what would make Albus feel better, and then it hit him. "Hey, Al, why don't you owl your father about this? I'm sure that he'll give you some good advice."

At first, he thought that it wouldn't work, but then Albus brightened up and went through his bag for a piece of parchment and his quill.

"You're right, Scorps! My father will know what to do."

He was glad to have made Albus feel somewhat better. After Albus sent off the letter to his father, he still didn't look very cheerful and that bothered Scorpius more than he liked. They sat there by the fire, not talking, and leaning on each other for support. Actually, Scorpius did understand where Albus was coming from; he wouldn't mind catching the one behind the explosions either.

After a while, they finally got to talk about normal, every day things. Scorpius told Al about his Band tryout, and Albus was talking about when he would try out for Quidditch next year. Irene Finnigan, Elizabeth Bones, and Jodi Johnson walked by the couch where they were sitting, giggling and gossiping about something, but Scorpius didn't pay them any mind; his attention was all on Albus.

"Will you play for me some day?" Al asked him suddenly.

"Play what?" he said, blinking.

"The violin, of course!" said Al. "I'd love to hear you play."

"Um, maybe some other time," said Scorpius, cheeks going red. "I haven't gotten too good yet."

"I'm sure you sound fine. I mean that you'd sound way better than me."

"You don't play the violin," Scorpius pointed out.

"Exactly!" Albus beamed. "So please? I wanna hear you."

"Maybe some other time."

"Oh come on, Scorps! What are you afraid of?"

Scorpius felt his hackles go up, but then they lowered as his shoulders sagged and he looked away. "Honestly, Albus, just leave it, ok? You can hear me when I get better."

"But…"

"Hey, how's it going?" said Fred Weasley as he sat down next to them in the armchair.

Albus looked over and gave him a cheery smile. "Not bad."

Scorpius got up from the sofa and made his way toward the dormitory.

"Hey, where are you going, Scorps?" said Albus.

Scorpius had no answer to give him.

TBC

AN: Just so you know, Albus's detention was more than one night. That wasn't a goof.


	6. Chapter 6

I Will Not Lose You 06 

Pairing: Al/Scorpius

Rated: PG-13 (for now)

Notes: Post-epilogue, so that means that this fic has some spoilers for book seven.

Albus Severus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy, and Rose Weasley are **eleven**. James is a third year. Lily and Hugo are nine, Teddy Lupin is eighteen, and Victorie is seventeen.

Other siblings (I discovered on JKR's site):

Dominique and Louis (and Victorie): Bill's kids.

(Dominique is a boy or girl's name, so I made it a boy. I'm guessing that Rowling probably made it a girl, though, but oh well)

Molly and Lucy: Percy's kids.

Fred and Roxanne: George's kids.

**Other Notes:** I had other notes here for the last couple chapters, but somehow they got erased, and I apologize for the confusion without them. (trying to remember what she wrote last time) I know that I had accidentally given some kids the last names of their mothers, but for one it was on purpose; Millicent Bulstrode had married and then divorced, and to get revenge on ex-husband, she had their son's (Baltazar) surname changed over to Millicent's madian name. It's not overly cruel to us Muggles, but it really hurt Baltazar's father – especially his reputation.

Patrick Patil's last name is actually "Patil-Peterson" but most just call him Patil or Patrick. He doesn't care for his father at all. Hope that clears some things up.

Warnings: Possible innuendoes, and early bloomers (Scorpius especially)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and its characters are not mine, but I'm only playing around with them. However, the Original Characters in here are mine and won't be used by anyone else without my permission.

.-.

Scorpius woke up way earlier than usual so that he wouldn't have to face Albus in the morning. He was one of the first ones at breakfast, and he hoped he'd be the first one done, but minutes before he could finish eating, Albus was suddenly there on his right, his face inches away from his and a worried look in his green eyes.

"Why didn't you wake me when you woke up? Why'd you come to breakfast so early?"

A scant few others began to file in and go to their own tables. Only two teachers were at the head table as well, and Scorpius wished that he had finished eating sooner so that he could have gone to class early, so that he wouldn't have to have Albus in his face asking him questions he didn't want to answer.

When he didn't answer, Al grabbed him by the shoulders and made him turn toward him. Scorpius looked away.

"It's no big deal, Albus," he said. "Please, just let me eat."

"You never leave the dormitory without me in the morning! Why else do you think I wouldn't wonder what is wrong?"

"You're making a mountain out of an anthill, you know."

"Scorpius…"

He jerked out of Albus's grip, although he wished he didn't have to, but there were more people coming into the Great Hall.

"Fine, I'll tell you later after class. I don't want to talk here where others could overhear us."

Albus was satisfied with that answer, and he immediately began to attack his own breakfast.

Albus wasn't much of a morning person, so it made Scorpius's heart skip to know that Albus had woken up just to find him and find out what was wrong. 'He cares about me,' Scorpius thought, and it made him feel lighter inside.

What was wrong wasn't that big of a deal, he knew. He should just let Albus listen to his horrible violin playing and tease him for it as much as he liked. It shouldn't be that bad, right? Besides, it's better to let Al hear him play than anyone else in their dormitory. The last thing he needed was to have Eddie Finch-Fletchley hear him.

Then there was the other thing that bugged him. Every time Hal Porter or Connor Kimball would be in the same room as him or they were even talked about, he felt very… weird. It was as if he had missed a step as he went down the stairs. He didn't want to think much of it, actually. It must be something to do with growing up.

He decided to owl his father that night, after classes.

During Potions, there were plenty of sneers and jeers his and Al's way, and it made the Gryffindors band together even more. Scorpius knew that it shouldn't matter what House you were from, and he hoped that Goyle thought that too. After class, he tried to catch up with Goyle to see if they were actually friends at all. Albus trailed after him, not sure what was wrong.

"Drake, hold up will ya?" he shouted across the hall. Goyle stopped, and so did Bulstrode and Thea Nott.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"I want to talk to you for a moment."

Albus gave him a strange look, but didn't say anything.

"All right," said Goyle, and he followed him to a remote area of the hall. "What is it?"

"I just want to know for sure if you're still my friend."

Goyle blinked, dumbfounded, as if Scorpius had just asked him whether he wore underwear or not.

"I suppose I am," he answered slowly. "But we shouldn't hang out so much."

"Why not?" he asked, hating how childish he sounded.

"Because," said Goyle. "I don't hate you or anything, but it's just best if we don't hang out too much. I'm a Slytherin, after all, and you're a Gryffindor."

"So?" said Scorpius, feeling hurt and annoyed. "My family had been in Slytherin for generations!"

"Then why aren't you?"

Scorpius felt his heart plummet into his stomach.

"This isn't fair."

"Sorry, Malfoy," said Goyle softly. "That's just the way it is."

.-.

When he got back to the Gryffindor common room, he didn't feel like playing his violin at all. He slumped into the armchair and stared into the fire. Albus sat on the couch next to him, looking concerned.

"What happened?" he asked.

Scorpius nearly snapped at him, but held himself back. He didn't want to talk about it. His father was going to kill him now, because he had lost his Slytherin friend. He didn't gain an enemy, but it felt just as bad.

A few third years walked into the common room, talking and laughing. Scorpius tried to ignore it, but the moment he saw Connor, his heart leaped and his stomach swooped.

"Play for us, Con!" said Lucy Weasley. A couple other girls next to her nodded in agreement.

James and Hal were there too, laughing and teasing Connor. He didn't seem to mind, actually, and took out his saxophone and got ready to play. The girls huddled closer to him, starry-eyed and smiling.

"You should play too," Albus whispered to him. Scorpius shook his head.

"Nah, don't want to take the spotlight away from him," he said, waving a lazy hand at Connor.

"You think you could take the spotlight from him?" said Albus, suddenly looking amused. "You're that good, huh?"

"Shut up," said Scorpius lightly. His cheeks went pink. "I'm not that good."

"You just said that you'd take away Connor's spotlight…" Al was smiling.

"I was only kidding!" Scorpius huffed. "Merlin, quit taking things literally."

Albus didn't seem bothered by his snappy reply, and continued to smile at him. Scorpius felt like burying his face into his hands, but the moment Connor started to play, he looked up and couldn't help watching. Connor was very, very good. He wondered if he'd been playing most of his life, because Connor was only a third year. All the girls were sighing in a way that made you think they'd just found the God of music.

"He's good," said Albus.

"Yeah, I guess he is," said Scorpius, feeling a little worse. If he could make Albus look at him that way when he played, then he could die happy.

"I still want to hear you play," Albus stage whispered.

Scorpius buried his face into his hands.

After Connor finished, the girls asked for an encore, but Connor told them politely that he had homework to work on that was due tomorrow and then put his saxophone away. The girls pouted.

James and Hal were stretched out on the rug in front of the fireplace, looking sleepy but satisfied. Scorpius wondered if they actually enjoyed their friend's playing just as much as the girls did, but wouldn't admit it.

When there was a light tap on the window by an owl, one of the third year Gryffindors ran toward it, but wasn't watching where he was going and tripped over James and Hal.

"Watch it, Maynard, you idiot!" bellowed James.

"Sorry, James, sorry," babbled Maynard, and then stood up and ran for the window. There were actually three owls.

"Oh good, it's here!" shouted Maynard, who tore a letter away from one owl and zoomed up to the dormitories. The other two owls landed next to Scorpius and Al.

"It's a response from my dad!" said Albus, smiling brightly. He tore the envelope open hastily, and Scorpius took the letter from the other owl.

"Mine's from my mum," he said, and then opened it. He couldn't keep the smile from his face as he read it. His mother heard about him joining band and was very proud of him.

_I was in band as well, love, and it makes me so happy to learn that all those lessons I gave you have paid off. Remember to keep practicing as much as possible, and do your father and I proud. Yes, your father is proud of you too, even though he won't admit it out loud. If there's anything you need, let me know right away! Don't forget to do your homework, and write to us if there's anything troubling you._

_Love always,_

_Your mum_

He put the letter away, feeling much better than before. He looked over at Al, to see if he had a good letter too, but was stunned to see a frown on his face.

"What's wrong, Al?"

Al folded the letter back up, shaking his head.

"He told me not to get involved."

"What?" Scorpius gasped. Deciding that it was a delicate situation, Scorpius steered Albus over to a corner so they'd have more privacy. "What did he say?"

Albus shook his head again, staring at the floor. "He told me not to worry about the explosions, and that I should just let the teachers handle it."

"That's not… why would he…"

"I guess he's just worried that I'll hurt myself," said Albus, trying to put on a smiling face. "It's understandable, of course."

"But, but… don't you know what your father did in his first year?"

"No, should I?"

Scorpius's jaw unhinged. He couldn't believe what he was hearing! How could Al's father not tell him about all the things he had done when he was at Hogwarts? Why didn't Harry Potter tell his own son about his past? Scorpius's father told him all about Harry Potter's deeds and things, so why didn't Harry Potter, the one who did all those things, tell his own son? It didn't make sense!

"That doesn't make sense!" Scorpius said, feeling angry on Al's behalf. "He should tell you what he's done here at Hogwarts."

"I guess he doesn't want me to… I don't know… do the things he did."

"But he didn't have a choice!" Scorpius huffed. "And… and neither do we! We're going to find out just who had been setting off those explosives and why!"

Albus shook his head. "I'd be disobeying my dad if I did that."

"So now you're going to back down, just because your father told you to?"

"Look who's talking," said Albus, narrowing his eyes.

"Hey, I never got a letter from my father that told me not to…" he paused for a moment, rethinking what he just said.

"Yeah, telling you not to do anything rash isn't the same as telling you not to do something in a letter." Albus bit back.

"Ok, so he did tell me not to do anything stupid, but that's not the same thing!"

"Oh, it is too, Scorpius!" Albus growled. "Stop acting like you know better." Al walked out of the corner and up the stairs to their dormitory. Oh crap, he's done it now.

.-.

For the next three days, Albus didn't talk to him. Scorpius felt worse every day. He kept trying to get Albus to talk to him again, but Albus just continued to give him the silent treatment.

"What's the matter, Malfoy?" said James on the second day of Albus's silence. "Did you two have a lover's spat?"

Scorpius felt his entire body heat up, but he glared at James defiantly.

"Shut up, Potter! And mind your own business!"

"Be nice, James," said Hal. "Poor boys got into their first fight."

"So?"

"So, don't you remember our first fight at the end of our first year?"

James suddenly grinned, looking pleased with himself. "Oh yeah, you were in hospital for nearly a week!"

"That's because you hit me over the head with the handle of a school broom… and broke it."

"Ah, the good old days…"

Hal shook his head, laughing silently.

After dinner, Scorpius couldn't take it anymore, and he cornered Albus in the library where he was sitting with Rose. When Al still wouldn't talk to him, he hauled Albus up by his collar and dragged him behind a bookshelf.

"You nutter!" Albus cried. "What's wrong with you?"

"You won't talk to me, that's what's wrong!"

"That's because I don't want to talk to someone who's a hypocrite!"

"Wow, you actually know that word…"

Albus looked outraged, and then he pushed Scorpius out of his way, trying to get back to his table with Rose, but Scorpius pulled him back by his collar and threw him against the bookcase. It knocked the wind out of him.

"I don't want to talk to you!" Albus snarled, holding his stomach.

"Well, too bad because I want to talk to YOU!"

Albus tried to get away, but Scorpius pinned him up against the bookcase with his entire body. He finally got Al's arms locked behind him after a bit of struggling. They panted heavily into each other's faces, Al's eyes nearly glowed as he stared Scorpius down.

"I'm not someone who likes to fight," said Al, "but continue to push me and I will."

"Good," said Scorpius. "At least then I'll have your attention."

"Get out of my face!"

"No," said Scorpius calmly. "We're going to talk this over."

"No, we're not."

"Yes, we are," stressed Scorpius. He lowered his face into the crook of Al's neck so that no one could overhear him. "Because I refuse to lose you as a best friend."

Albus went very still. All that could be heard was their panting, and their own heartbeats in their ears. Scorpius finally moved away to look Al in the eyes. Al didn't look so angry anymore. As a matter of fact, Al was beginning to shake.

"I don't want to lose you either," Al finally whispered. "I just… I can't go against my dad's wishes. If I had to pick between my dad and you, Scorpius… I'm sorry to say this, but it'll always be my dad."

This was something Scorpius understood, because he looked up to his father too, and if his father told him not to do something, he wouldn't do it. Well, usually he wouldn't do it. Maybe because he was a Gryffindor and his father was a Slytherin had something to do with why they had a different way of thinking. His father was right to warn him about not doing anything rash.

"I understand," he whispered to Albus. "Truly, I do. And I don't want you to choose between me and your father any more than I would want to choose between my father and you."

Albus nodded, and then he had a smile on his face, and it made the nervous lump in Scorpius's throat disappear. He loved to see that smile.

"Glad to hear it," said Al. "Look…" Al sighed and ran a hand through his hair, messing it up more. "I'm sorry that I was ignoring you. It was so hard not to say anything to you. It had been eating me alive ever since. I'm really sorry."

"It's all right," Scorpius found himself saying. "No one's perfect."

.-.

That night, Albus cornered Scorpius.

"I want to know what was bothering you."

"Huh?" Scorpius looked up from the book he was reading. He usually liked to read before bed, so he snuggled down in the covers with his pajamas on, one candle lit beside him, and a favorite book open in his lap.

Albus sat down across from him, a hand dangerously close to one of Scorpius's feet. He began to pick at the bits of lint of top of the covers. "That one time when you suddenly got up and left the common room. Something was bothering you."

"Oh, that," sighed Scorpius. He placed his green and blue bookmark into the book and set it aside. "Honestly, it really is nothing worth talking about."

"Yes, but…" Albus went red. "Seeing that I'm going to tell you what was bothering me that one time, I figured it's only fair… plus, aren't we supposed to keep talking to each other, especially after that spat we had?"

Albus had a point. "Okay. Well… I'm not exactly sure if what is bothering me is true or not, though. It's just…" he sighed, not sure just how much he should explain.

"It's all right, I can go first."

Scorpius nodded, glad that Albus was willing to talk first. "All right."

Albus leaned back against the bedpost, one knee bent and one leg over the side of the bed. He looked up at the canopy, and Scorpius took that moment to watch Albus without worrying about Al wondering why he was staring.

"It was… when I was in detention, cleaning the trophies. It really sounds silly, now that I am talking about it with you, but…" he sighed. "I saw… I saw my dad's trophy."

Scorpius raised an eyebrow. "That's it?"

Albus looked at him, scowling. "No, that's not it. I also saw… my grandfather's."

"Oh?"

Albus looked away, cheeks tinting. "My grandfather won a few awards, mostly Quidditch, and so did my dad. My grandfather had been a Chaser and a Seeker, and my father was a Seeker. After I saw those trophies, I couldn't polish anymore."

"So, what did you do?"

"I just… sat there, staring at them…" Albus bowed his head, his hair falling over his eyes. "I thought to myself: 'there's no way I can measure up to them.' And Filch didn't even notice that I didn't get much done after that, he just dismissed me after my time was up."

Scorpius sat there, somewhat stunned. So, Albus was worried about doing his father proud? He can relate to that too. But he didn't think that Mr. Potter would do something as drastic as disown his own son just because he wasn't—or couldn't be—as good as him. But he knew, somehow, that Albus was just as good, if not better. He'd seen how Albus flew, and there was no doubt about it.

He moved around to sit next to Al and put an arm around him. Albus automatically leaned his head down on Scorpius's shoulder.

"You're just as good as your father, I'm sure of it," he told Al. "I mean, I saw you fly! I don't think you have anything to worry about."

"Really?" said Albus in a small voice, warm breath against Scorpius's neck. "Do you really think so?"

"I really think so, yes," said Scorpius. He brushed a few stray hairs away from Al's forehead. "You're a natural, remember? Just like your father said."

He felt Albus smiling against his neck. "Yeah… yeah, you're right. I'm sure I'll be fine."

"Of course you'll be fine," said Scorpius, feeling his own smile coming back. "You'll do more than fine! You'll be the best Seeker ever! Just you wait and see."

Albus laughed, and the sound was music to his ears.

Speaking of music….

"Hey, Al."

"Yeah?"

"Would you… would you like to listen to me play?"

Albus almost leaped right out of Scorpius's arms. "Would I! Yes, please!"

Scorpius laughed.

He got out his violin, tried to tune it best he could, and then began to play.

Albus sat there, leaning against Scorpius's pillows, smiling at him while he played what he figured was the best song he could do at the time. It was soft and sweet, and a bit melancholy, but he didn't falter or play one bad note, and he lost himself into its melody.

He ended up serenading Al to sleep on his own bed.

TBC

AN: Just so you know, I decided that Harry's father would have been both a Chaser and a Seeker; it can happen, right? So, for this story, James Potter Sr. had been a Chaser first, and then later a Seeker. During a Quidditch tryout, and since the Seeker was leaving, James Sr gave it a try and won the position. Another took his place as Chaser. That's what happened in this story.


	7. Chapter 7

I Will Not Lose You 07 I Will Not Lose You 07

Pairing: Al/Scorpius

Rated: PG-13 (for now)

Notes: Post-epilogue, so that means that this fic has some spoilers for book seven.

Albus Severus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy, and Rose Weasley are **eleven**. James is a third year. Lily and Hugo are nine.

Other siblings (I discovered on JKR's site):

Dominique and Louis (and Victorie): Bill's kids.

(Dominique is a boy or girl's name, so I made it a boy. I'm guessing that Rowling probably made it a girl, though, but oh well)

Molly and Lucy: Percy's kids.

Fred and Roxanne: George's kids.

Warnings: Possible innuendoes and early bloomers

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and its characters are not mine, but I'm only playing around with them. However, the Original Characters in here are mine and won't be used by anyone else without my permission.

* * *

A week later, Harry wrote to Albus to tell him that Professor McGonagall had wrote to him about the detention.

_Why didn't you tell me? _Harry had written. _You know I wouldn't be mad at you._

Albus had replied back simply with: _Because, I was afraid you'd be disappointed in me._

Harry wasn't disappointed in Albus just because he got one detention, and he told his son as much. He explained, calmly in the letter, that he'd had plenty of detentions, so he wasn't the first. He also told Al that his grandfather had gotten just as many, if not more, than him. This made Al feel better. It showed by the way he smiled for the rest of the day, and Scorpius had to ask him why he was in such a good mood. When he told him, Scorpius was smiling too, glad for his friend.

It was nearly Halloween and the students were excited about the feast. Well, most of the students were. There were a few that didn't think it was that great of a holiday, especially a handful of Slytherins. Scorpius wasn't sure why they weren't as happy about it, but Rose had explained to him that some people celebrated it as a day that the evil Dark Lord was destroyed by Harry Potter, but some left that for November first. This was a first Al's ever heard about it.

"My father defeated the Dark Lord?" he asked, looking stunned. "I thought that—I mean, I know he had something to do with it, but I didn't know he actually was the one that defeated him."

"What are you talking about?" said Rose, flabbergasted. "My dad told us about it many times! Don't you remember?"

"I thought he was making it up," said Al sheepishly. "I mean, don't all adults make things seem bigger than they were?"

Rose looked like she was about to explode (she did not like it when others bad-mouthed her dad), and Scorpius stepped in to try and make sure a fight didn't start up.

"It's true though, Al," he said. "My father told me all about the day that your father beat Lord Voldemort. My father even said that he had a part in the defeat too."

"Your father helped mine?" said Al, looking adorably lost.

"It was my father's wand that did it, in the end," said Scorpius, winking. "Oh, they weren't friends, really, but his part in the war actually helped in aiding your father."

Al looked as if he was about to faint, so Scorpius quickly grabbed a nearby chair and eased Albus onto it, and Rose fetched a glass of water from a nearby stand. They were in the Great Hall, but hadn't sat down at their respective tables just yet.

"All right, Al?" said Rose. Albus nodded and sipped the water. Scorpius took another chair and spun it around to sit in front of Al, placing a hand on Al's knee.

"I can't understand why your father didn't want you to know about what he's done when he was here at Hogwarts. I think you need to ask him about it."

"Scorpius is right," said Rose. "Actually, I just thought of something… every time my dad started telling us the story of how Voldemort was defeated, your dad always left the room. I wonder why."

"Maybe because he doesn't want to relive that part of his life?" Albus said suddenly, standing from the chair and almost knocking it over. "Or maybe because most of it is a lie and he doesn't want to hear it!"

"If it was a lie, wouldn't your father tell Rose's father to not tell you lies?" said Scorpius.

Al was panting heavily, eyes blurred and fists clenched. Scorpius wasn't sure why Albus was getting so upset; parents did lie sometimes, and other times they just didn't want to talk about certain things. In the case with Al's father, it must be the latter.

"I guess you might be right, about your father not wanting to relive that part of his life. But wouldn't he have gotten over it already? It's been years."

"Well, maybe he hasn't," said Albus, looking ready to punch anyone who'd try speaking ill of his father. "Maybe it really was that horrible and he doesn't wish to discuss it or hear of it! And I won't be the one to bring up those terrible memories!"

Before they could stop him, Albus rushed out of the Great Hall. Rose sighed and Scorpius sat there, shocked. That talk hadn't gone the way he thought it would. Being the Gryffindor that he was, though, he finally got up to follow Albus. He was sure that Al was headed for their common room, but when he got there, Al was nowhere to be seen.

"I don't know where Albus is," said Henry. "He's usually hanging around you, so… that's all I know."

After searching the tower and coming up with nothing, he decided to check the Ravenclaw tower. He, Al, and Rose were such good friends that they would tell each other the passwords or answers to their common rooms in case of an emergency. When Scorpius got to the door with the bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle, he knocked. The eagle spoke.

"Which is correct? 'The yolk of the egg are white?' or 'The yolk of the egg is white?'"

Scorpius knew this one, because Rose has told him the answer to it at the beginning of Charms class.

"Neither, because egg yolks are yellow."

"Very good," said the eagle, and the door opened.

The Ravenclaw common room was just as Scorpius remembered it from his first visit – although it was a quick visit when he and Rose came in so that Rose could grab something she had forgotten. It was a wide, circular room, airy, with graceful looking windows scattering the walls that were hung with blue and bronze silks. The ceiling was domed, painted with stars, as was the carpet; and there were tables, chairs, and bookcases along with a statue of Rowena Ravenclaw with her tiara on her head.

The small group of Ravenclaws that were in the common room turned and stared at him the moment he entered. One of them glared the moment he noticed that Scorpius was a Gryffindor.

"You can't just come in here whenever you feel like it," the boy said. "Although, you must be clever enough to answer the riddle correctly."

'Wasn't that hard of a riddle,' he thought, but aloud he said, "Sorry to intrude like this, but I thought maybe Albus had come in here."

"Why would he be in here?" said a girl that looked familiar. "Alone, I mean. Whenever he's here, he's usually with Rose Weasley."

"I know, but he ran off and he wasn't in the Gryffindor common room, so I thought maybe he'd come in here for solitude."

The girl got up from her seat and walked calmly over to him. "Albus is missing?"

"I guess… I don't know where he had ran off to, and I'm terribly worried about him."

"I see," she said. "My name's Valda Scriven, I'm a third year and I know Roxanne and Lucy. Unfortunately, I also know James Potter."

Scorpius smiled as they shook hands. "A pleasure to meet you. Could you help me find him?"

"I'm afraid you're on your own for that. I've got a ton of homework to finish. But you could always ask one of the ghosts if they've seen him."

"Right, thanks."

Before leaving, he looked back and saw that the guy that had glared at him when he first came in was still glaring at him. One of the other girls smacked his shoulder and said, "Stop it, Louis."

Louis gave Scorpius one last glare before returning to his homework. Scorpius didn't think much of it and left the Ravenclaw common room in search of his missing friend.

* * *

He looked everywhere, as far as he was concerned, and he still couldn't find Albus. He'd even ran into (or through, as the case may be) a ghost and asked them if they had seen Albus, but they said no and floated away haughtily.

He decided it was finally time to ask Professor Longbottom. He found the professor in his office, either grading papers or writing something up to remember. Longbottom was a good teacher; he was just a little forgetful sometimes, so he often wrote things down in a journal.

"Excuse me, professor?"

"Ah, Mr. Malfoy," said Neville cheerfully. "Come on in, have a seat. I'm just finishing up writing… er, something down…" He continued to jot some things down in a book, and then finally finished and closed it. "Er, sorry about that. What can I do for you?"

"I don't mean to alarm anyone, but Albus is missing."

Professor Longbottom's eyes widened, and Scorpius was sure it was in alarm.

"Did you check everywhere?"

Scorpius nodded. "Yes, where I think he could have gone."

Professor Longbottom did something that Scorpius thought he wouldn't do and that was toss some Floo Powder into his fireplace and yell out: "Potters' home."

"Oh, bugger…" Scorpius muttered. The last thing he wanted to do was bother Mr. Potter about the matter. He was sure that Albus was just somewhere private and wanted a little time to himself, and that it wasn't necessary to call Harry Potter here because of it, but it was too late now. Harry's head was now floating in the green flames, and he looked up at Neville best he could, considering his position.

"Neville, is that you? I can only see your belt buckle."

"Oh, sorry," said Neville, and he kneeled down so that he was face to face with Harry. "We've got a situation. Scorpius Malfoy came in to my office to tell me that he can't find Albus anywhere."

"What?" Harry gasped, and then coughed when he got a mouthful of soot. After clearing his throat, he said, "I'll be right there…" and then disappeared.

"Is this really necessary?" Scorpius asked.

"Well, you're worried, aren't you?" Professor Longbottom said.

"Of course, but why get his father into this? I'm sure Al is just hiding somewhere…"

"True, he might be, but he also might be in trouble. If he has run off somewhere, I think it's best if his parents knew."

"But…" Scorpius began, but was interrupted by Harry coming through the fireplace. He landed a little clumsily, and then brushed off the ash from his trousers.

"I really don't like traveling by Floo," Harry mumbled.

"I'm really sorry, Mr. Potter," Scorpius said automatically. He was taught that when he was around his elders that he would show them respect, no matter what. "I should have gone after him the moment he ran off, but I didn't think much of it at the time... I hesitated, and now he could be hurt or…"

"That's all right, Scorpius," said Harry, patting him on the shoulder. "I have just the thing that will help us find Al." He plunged his hand into his robe, and at first Scorpius thought that Mr. Potter was going to take out his wand, but instead he took out an old piece of parchment.

"What's that?" Scorpius asked.

"A sure-fire way of finding Al," said Harry, winking. He took out his wand from his sleeve and tapped in on the blank piece of parchment and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

"You're not up to no good, Mr. Potter, you're—oh, wow…"

The parchment was no longer blank. Right before Scorpius's eyes, there was a map, and from the looks of it, it was a map of Hogwarts. Harry quickly scanned the map. After about a minute, Neville asked, "Harry, why can't you find him so quickly?"

Harry was used to the map by now, and he could easily spot the name he was looking for, but for some reason he was taking longer to find Al's dot.

"Because," said Harry. "Al isn't on the map."

"What?" Neville gasped. "He has to be! He couldn't have left Hogwarts!"

"No, but he could be where the map can't show him." Harry tapped his wand on the map again. "Mischief managed." The map went back to being a blank piece of parchment.

"Wow, where did you get that?" Scorpius asked, impressed.

"Family heirloom," said Harry, smiling. "Now, would you like to come with me to find Al?"

"Yes, please," said Scorpius politely. "Thank you, sir."

"None of this 'sir' business," said Harry, ruffling Scorpius's hair. "Just call me Harry. Or Mr. Potter, if you prefer."

"Of course, Mr. Potter," said Scorpius. He followed Harry out of Professor Longbottom's office and down the hall. Professor Longbottom stayed behind in case any of the teachers needed to contact him. Scorpius walked beside Mr. Potter as best he could, trying to keep up. Mr. Potter's strides were longer than his, but not by too much; Mr. Potter wasn't as tall as Scorpius's father.

This was, of course, Scorpius's first time meeting Al's father face to face, and he felt a little insignificant next to him, but he also felt at awe in Harry's presence. He tried not to act like it, however, and tried his best to stay as formal as possible. Harry Potter was a person he knew he had to show some respect to, and if he were to stay Al's best friend, he needed to show Al's father that he was someone reliable. The last thing he wanted to do was get on Harry Potter's bad side, or botch things up in front of him.

They reached the seventh floor and stopped next to a tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. Scorpius was confused as to why they were here. Wasn't this a place that was on the map? They were supposed to go to a place that wasn't on the map, right?

Harry began to pace back and forth and was muttering to himself. Scorpius watched, completely bewildered. What was he doing?

Then, the wall in front of them shifted, and a door appeared. Scorpius leaped back in surprise. Harry was grinning.

"What's this?" Scorpius asked.

"It's called the Room of Requirement. Or the Come and Go Room. Hopefully I asked it the right thing, so we should find Albus in here." Harry grabbed the handle of the door and tugged it open. Scorpius followed Harry inside.

The room looked very comfortable, and it was warm. There was a fireplace on the right, along with some armchairs and a sofa that looked like it came from Gryffindor Tower, and a bed on the far side of the room. A desk was to their left, with a comfortable chair, and some desk supplies were on top, including a bottle of ink, a quill, and some blank parchments. There were no windows, but it still looked inviting, even in the corners.

Albus was there, sitting on the biggest armchair there was, which was a diamond back, and he looked as if he were almost asleep. When the door behind Harry and Scorpius shut, Albus was startled from his daze. He looked over the arm of the chair and gasped.

"Dad! Scorpius! What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

Harry marched up to his son, a look between relief and irritation shone in his eyes. "Albus Severus Potter, you are in trouble."

Albus hopped off of the chair and ran toward Harry, and before Harry could stop him, Albus had flung his arms around his waist and held on.

"I'm sorry, dad," he said, crushing his face against Harry's stomach. "What did I do?"

"You had everyone worried, that's what you did," Harry softly reprimanded. "Why don't you let anyone know where you are? Not even your friends knew."

Albus looked up at his father, frowning. "I'm sorry… I come here sometimes, to think and be alone."

"Why here?" Scorpius demanded. "Why not the Ravenclaw Tower? At least I could have found you there and if you needed to be alone, I could have just left you there."

Albus nodded, understanding what he did. "I'm sorry, Scorpius. I didn't mean to scare you like that. I just… needed some time to think."

Harry ran his fingers through his son's hair. "Well, it's a good thing we found you and that you weren't in any danger. However, I would like to know how you found this place."

"Oh, well…" Albus blushed, releasing his father and walking back over to the chair. "I just happened to find it on accident. See, I got lost one day…" he smiled. "And I decided to look for some sort of shortcut, you know, to get me back to the tower or something. Well, I kept going back and forth up and down this hallway, thinking 'I must get to the common room…I must get to the common room…' and then this door appeared, and Bob's your uncle!"

"I don't have an uncle Bob," said Scorpius. Harry and Albus looked at each other and laughed. "What?" Scorpius asked. "What did I say?"

"That's not what he meant," said Harry, wiping away a few tears from laughing so hard. After calming down finally and explaining to Scorpius what Albus meant, he said to Albus, "You know, I've used this room too, a few times. But I didn't use it to get away from things. Maybe, from now on, you should tell someone where you're going so they don't worry."

"Ok," said Albus, blushing softly. "Sorry to worry you, dad," and then he turned to his best friend. "Sorry, Scorpius."

Scorpius couldn't stop the blush from staining his cheeks. "Er, yeah, just don't forget next time!" Then he stepped forward and hugged Al. Al smiled, and hugged back. Al then turned to his dad and hugged him, too.

"All right, you two need to go back to Gryffindor Tower."

"Yes, dad."

"Ok, Mr. Potter."

Harry stayed with them in the common room for a bit. It's been a while, Harry said, since he'd been in the Gryffindor common room. He looked very nostalgic, but then he pulled himself together in order to play chess and Exploding Snap with the students.

"Why isn't your dad a teacher?" Scorpius asked when Mr. Potter was busy playing Exploding Snap. One of the students was Hal Porter, and he looked intrigued with finally meeting Harry Potter.

"I dunno," said Al. "That would be cool, though!"

"What do you think he could teach?" Scorpius wondered out loud.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts, maybe," said Al, smiling proudly.

"I agree," said Roxie. "He's very good at that stuff; especially after he defeated the Dark Lord."

Albus glanced at Roxanne and then at his father, but didn't say anything. Scorpius knew that look on Al's face; Al was dying to ask his father about that time that he defeated Lord Voldemort, but Al became resigned. Scorpius had no idea why; wasn't that one of the things that Al really wanted to know? Of course, he didn't want to say anything to Al right now, so he decided to wait until they were alone in their dormitory.

Harry Potter stood from his spot, stretched, and then told them all that he should get back home, else his wife would worry. Albus got up from his spot on the couch and ran at his father, flinging his arms around him. Harry hugged back. Scorpius was amused by the fact that Al wasn't afraid to show others that he really loved his father. Scorpius would have been too embarrassed to hug his own father in front of others.

"Remember to try your best," said Harry.

"I will, dad," Al said, smiling.

Harry looked over at Scorpius, who was still sitting on the couch. Harry nodded at him. "Thanks for being a good friend to my son, Scorpius."

Scorpius nodded back in understanding.

Harry threw a handful of Floo Powder into the fire, and in a swirl of green flames, he was gone.

The common room was silent for a few seconds, and then suddenly erupted into talk. Most seemed very pleased to have had Harry Potter in their presence, and loved how polite and humble he seemed. A few students came up to Albus and asked him a few questions about his dad.

"How strong is your dad?" one asked. Albus just shrugged, his face going pink.

"He never told you?" said the student, preplexed.

"Hey, Al, your father is great. I wish he was a professor!"

Al shook his head. "Nah, he's too busy being Head Auror."

The common room was abuzz again with this information. Apparently not everyone knew this, or had forgotten about being told it and now just remembered.

"I knew about that," said Scorpius. "My father was able to keep working at the Ministry thanks to your father."

"Really?" said Albus, smiling. "That's cool! Maybe that's one of the reasons why he doesn't mind us being best friends."

"I'm sure that our fathers are smart enough to realize that it would be cruel to tear us apart now." Scorpius said, grinning. He was extremely pleased to remember that his father had told him not to lose Albus.

"Hey, Potter," said Eddie Finch-Fletchley. "Why are you such a daddy's boy?"

The common room got quiet. Albus was blushing hard.

"Leave him alone, Eddie," said Roxie. "You're just jealous because your dad doesn't love you as much as Albus's dad loves him."

Eddie went red. "Shut up! My father loves me!"

"Of course he does," said Patrick. "Little Momma's boy."

Eddie, it turned out, had anger management issues, and swung a fist into Patrick's face. Patrick cried out and dropped to the floor. In that instant, Albus leaped from the couch and tackled Eddie to the floor, pinning his arms underneath him. Eddie struggled under Albus, face bright red and eyes shining with unshed tears either in anger or frustration.

"Let me up, Daddy's Boy!" Eddie spat.

"You shouldn't have hit Patrick!" Albus snarled into his face. "He's a good person!"

"He called me a Momma's boy!" Eddie screamed.

"Doesn't give you the right to punch him!" Albus yelled back.

"What is all this?" cried a prefect. "What's going on? Potter, let Finch-Fletchley up this instant or I'm taking points!"

Albus stood up, face red from the fight and exertion.

"He hit Patrick!" Albus said immediately.

"He called me a Momma's Boy!" said Eddie, pointing at Patrick.

"Patrick didn't hit back?" asked the prefect. Everyone in the room shook their heads. "Right, sorry about this Eddie, but you have detention. Go report to the Head of Gryffindor House."

Eddie stood, looking angry and annoyed and stormed out of the common room.

"You better go to the hospital wing, Mr. Patil-Peterson."

Patrick nodded, and then slowly left the common room too. Albus wanted to go with, but the prefect told him not to worry, that Patrick can get to the hospital wing on his own; it was only a bloody nose and cut lip.

"I should have punched Eddie for that," said Albus, slumping into the armchair.

"No, it's good that you didn't," said Scorpius. "Otherwise you'd have detention too."

Albus sighed. "Now I do wish my dad was a teacher."

TBC

AN: There seems to be some confusion about Harry not telling Al about what he's done at Hogwarts. Yes, I went with the idea because of what is said in the epilogue, but this isn't completely true. It's just Al not understanding things fully. That is why, in the fic, Rose said:

_"My dad told us about it many times! Don't you remember?"_

Ron obviously has told the kids, many times, about his and Harry's adventures, but Al wasn't grasping that it was true! Harry figures that Al knows because Ron has told them. I hope that clears things up!


	8. Chapter 8

I Will Not Lose You 08 I Will Not Lose You 08

Pairing: Al/Scorpius

Rated: PG-13 (for now)

Notes: Post-epilogue, so that means that this fic has some spoilers for book seven.

Albus Severus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy, and Rose Weasley are **eleven**. James is a third year. Lily and Hugo are nine.

Other siblings (I discovered on JKR's site):

Dominique and Louis (and Victorie): Bill's kids.

(Dominique is a boy or girl's name, so I made it a boy. I'm guessing that Rowling probably made it a girl, though, but oh well)

Molly and Lucy: Percy's kids.

Fred and Roxanne: George's kids.

Warnings: Possible (un)intentional innuendoes

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and its characters are not mine, but I'm only playing around with them. However, the Original Characters in here are mine and won't be used by anyone else without my permission.

.-.

Two months had passed without too much happening. Al and Scorpius studied a lot, hung out together, and got to know a few other friends; Patrick Patil-Peterson (especially after Al defended him), Henry Thomas, Rose Weasley, and Kenneth Chamberlain (although Scorpius was a little annoyed by him, he still didn't mind) hung around them the most.

There were even times when, mostly after band practice, when Scorpius found himself hanging out with Tam Fletcher, whom was good friends with Harold Kemp and Cal Chandler. They all hung out in the Ravenclaw common room, talking or doing a bit of homework. Harold was very nice and what one could consider a nerd; he wore glasses and had a really bad haircut, but he wasn't ugly. Cal had lighter hair that hung just below his ears and he sported a few freckles on his cheeks and nose. The three Ravenclaws were a lot quieter and more composed compared to the Gryffindors, even though Harold was into Quidditch and hoped to get on his team next year.

Sometimes when he was in the Ravenclaw common room with his Ravenclaw friends, Rose would come sit with them. Tam and Harold didn't seem to mind too much that a girl was with them, but Cal always looked annoyed whenever Rose was around. This confused Scorpius for a while until later when he asked Cal what was wrong with her.

"I don't know," he had answered. "I just don't like her."

"Well, she's my friend, so you better get used to her." Scorpius snapped back.

Since then, Cal hadn't said a thing about Rose. Scorpius didn't think it was a good idea to tell Rose about what Cal said either, just in case that made her not want to hang out with him anymore.

There was even a time when Scorpius got a chance to see what the Hufflepuff common room looked like. He hadn't even really wanted to because of what his father had told him about Hufflepuffs, but since he was friends with a couple he might as well indulge them.

"Here we are," said Kenneth Chamberlain. "What do you think?"

"It looks like you've been digging escape tunnels," said Scorpius, eyeing the rounded out common room and burrow-like dormitories. "Is it really that bad to be in Hufflepuff?"

"Oh shut it," said Kenneth half-heartedly, pushing Scorpius's shoulder lightly.

Samuel Bones (Elizabeth's so-called twin), Harris Duncan, and Melanie Meriwether joined them on the floor beside the fireplace. Scorpius helped them with Potions and Charms, and together they did some Herbology homework, and studied for Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"So, where's your other half?" Harris teased.

Scorpius colored. "Who?"

"You know who!" Harris laughed. "Albus!"

"Oh, him," said Scorpius, staring down at his parchment. "He's busy."

"Busy doing what?" Kenneth asked.

"Homework or something, I don't know. I'm not his shadow."

"Never said you were," said Kenneth.

"No, but you are all thinking it. Just because I'm his best friend doesn't mean that we're joined at the hip."

Melanie giggled, and Scorpius couldn't help blushing even though he was glaring at her.

"Sorry," she muttered.

But what they had said made Scorpius long to be with Albus again. Once they were done with their homework, he made a hasty retreat, telling them that he should be back to his common room as soon as possible. They didn't give it much thought, and Scorpius ran as fast as he could to Albus.

When he entered the Gryffindor common room, Albus was sitting there with a few of their Gryffindor friends, working on Defense Against the Dark Arts. When Albus saw him, he smiled brightly and signaled to him to sit by him. Scorpius sat, only too pleased to do so. Al's smile was contagious.

"Why're you out of breath?" Al asked.

Scorpius nearly wrapped his arms around Albus, but he contained himself and just settled for smiling like a loon.

"Just wanted to make it back before curfew."

"Oh," said Al. "Well, now that you're back you can help me explain a few things to Henry."

Henry looked embarrassed. "I don't understand…"

"No problem," said Scorpius.

.-.

Before they knew it, snow had blanketed the ground and frosted the trees, and Christmas was upon them. Scorpius couldn't wait; he missed his parents.

"Going home for the holidays?" Albus asked him, and he nodded.

"Yeah. I can't wait to go home and see my mother and father again. How about you?"

"Yeah, I can't wait either. Although I would rather not be around so many, it'll still be fun."

"That's right," snickered Scorpius. "Your family is huge."

"You scoff, Malfoy," said Albus, pretending to be put out. "But I get more presents!"

"I get about as much as you!" Scorpius protested.

"That's because your parents give you about a gazillion gifts every year! I only get one gift per person."

"That's too bad," said Scorpius, pretending to feel sorry for him. Albus then snarled teasingly and they ended up chasing each other around the common room.

"Boys!" a prefect scolded when they had accidentally tripped and knocked over a table that had someone's homework sprawled on it. "That's enough rough housing!"

They sat on the sofa, embarrassed but still smiling and panting.

After packing a few things to go home, they stared at each other, finally realizing that they wouldn't see each other for about a week or so.

"Write to me, at least once," Scorpius told him.

"I will," said Albus.

"And, er… have fun, ok? Just because I can't be with you doesn't mean you're allowed be a wallflower."

Albus laughed and nudged him playfully. "Shut up."

They boarded the train to take them home. They sat beside one another, and Rose sat across from them. She had taken a book out right away and began to read. Henry and Patrick had joined them. Scorpius's hand was so close to Albus's that if he moved even an inch he could be holding it.

Albus sat back in his seat, eyes closed and a bright smile on his face. "I love trains."

"Oh?" said Scorpius. This was new information.

"Yeah," said Al, blushing. "Ever since I first saw the Hogwarts Express when James had to go for his first year."

Scorpius filed that bit of information away for future use.

When the train stopped at the station and they stepped off, Albus and Scorpius didn't move away from each other right away. They stared at each other, even as Henry and Patrick said their goodbyes.

"Guess I'll see you…" started Albus.

"Write to me," Scorpius reminded him.

"Al! Rose!" shouted someone. They turned. It was Albus's mother, and she was waving at them. Rose was next to them, waving back at her.

"I better go," said Al. He made a jerky movement toward Scorpius, but stopped. It was almost as if he was about to hug him. Scorpius decided to meet Albus halfway, and stepped forward.

"Scorpius," called his mother. He stopped and looked up.

Suddenly, both set of parents where there, and he looked up and saw that Mr. Potter and his father were eyeing each other coolly.

"Potter."

"Malfoy."

"Hello," said Ginny. "You must be Astoria."

"And you're Ginny," said Astoria politely. "A pleasure."

Draco snorted, but Astoria nudged him with her elbow.

"Ready to go home?" Harry asked his son, ruffling his hair.

Albus nodded. "Yeah. I can hardly believe that I actually miss grandmum's cooking."

"Have a good first year so far, Scorpius?" Astoria asked, tucking a stray hair away from Scorpius's face.

"Yes, mum," he said, blushing. Albus was looking back at Scorpius and was smiling. Scorpius couldn't help smiling back.

Draco cleared his throat and straightened his back. "Well, let's be on our way, Scorpius."

Scorpius nodded, but the moment he took a step toward his parents, he remembered something. He turned around and faced the Potters.

"Albus," he said.

Albus turned.

"Um, have a good holiday."

"You too," said Albus. The two families watched the exchange.

Scorpius screwed up his courage and moved forward. Albus figured it out a second later, and then they were hugging each other fiercely.

Draco looked away, and Astoria smiled and said, "Oh, how sweet." Harry and Ginny smiled, not one bit surprised; their little boy was pretty affectionate.

A minute passed, and they haven't let go of each other yet.

Rose nudged them. "Um, guys? Time to go."

They slowly released each other, blushing. "Er, sorry about that…" said Scorpius.

"It's all right," said Albus automatically. "See you after the holidays."

"Right. And don't forget to owl me, ok?"

"Okay, I get it, Scorps." Albus laughed.

They left with their respective parents, and before they were out of sight, they turned their heads back and gave each other one more smile.

.-.

The house was big and nearly empty, but Scorpius still felt happy to be home again. He missed Albus, but he knew that they would see each other again when he went back to school.

The Christmas tree in the sitting room was huge, and the star on top of it was bright and gold. There were dozens of presents lying under the tree, most had Scorpius's name on them. He sat next to it, right by the biggest present with his name on it, and stared at the ordainments and blinking fairy lights.

His father came in and sat down on the armchair. Scorpius looked up.

"Hello, father," he said.

"Scorpius. Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

Scorpius sighed. He'd picked up Albus's ways of telling others he was fine when he wasn't.

"Well, I do miss Albus… but it's OK, because he said he'd write."

The corner of Draco's lips twitched. "Yes, well… you'll see him at school after the holidays."

"I know," sighed Scorpius. "I just haven't been away from him for this long before."

"You'll live."

Scorpius nodded and went back to staring at the tree. It really was beautiful; the House-elves outdid themselves this year.

"Would you like a biscuit?" his mother asked when she sat down on the sofa with a tray full of treats.

"Sure," said Scorpius. "Thanks, mum."

Although they had tried to get Scorpius to call her 'mother', he couldn't help calling her mum. They tried to get him to break the habit, but it was futile. They gave up when he turned eight. After all, there were times when Draco himself had called his own mother 'mum'.

The next day, an owl from Al had arrived.

"Doesn't wait long, that Albus Potter, does he?" said Astoria, smiling.

Scorpius colored as he snatched the letter from the owl, opened the envelope and read the letter to himself.

_Dear Scorps,_

_As you can tell, I didn't waste any time writing to you. I hope that makes you happy. I'm glad to see my family again, but I already miss your company. My little sister Lily was extremely happy to see me again, and she's been bothering me almost non-stop since I came home. I finally got her to leave me alone long enough so that I could write to you._

_Do you have a big Christmas tree? Ours is pretty big. It has all sorts of ordainments and lights on it, along with an angel on the top. Does your tree have an angel, or just a star? I think we just had a star on ours last year. The colour for the tree this year is gold, silver, and red. It's very pretty. I almost wish I was here to help decorate it, but Lily and my mum had that pleasure._

_So far, I'm counting five presents under the tree that are mine. I'm sure there will be more as more people come over for Christmas Eve and Day. How many did you count? I'm sure you have more than five!_

_I know that we didn't talk about it before we left, but I want to get you something for Christmas. You don't have to get me anything, if you don't want, but I won't say no if you do! It looks like Lily and James have about as many presents as me, but I'm hoping that if you get me one, that will be one more pressie than them! Not that I'll gloat or anything. I'm not James._

_I could ask you what you want, but then it might spoil the surprise, and I know that you like surprises. I'll just get you what I hope you'll like, and if you don't like it you can always just send it back with a Howler or something. (I'm kidding about the Howler! Mum would go ballistic I think)_

_Anyway, I better cut this short, because Lily is bothering me again, plus I'm running out of parchment. I'm going shopping with mum and dad in a couple days, so you know, in case you have a certain day to go too; wouldn't want to bump into each other and spoil each other's surprises, huh? Well, write back very soon! Have a great holiday. Say hello to your parents for me._

_Your Best Friend in the whole wide world,_

_Al_

.-.

Scorpius didn't waste time and wrote back to Al right away. He told him about their tree, the colors, the lights, and his presents. He told Al he would see about getting him a present, but not to get his hopes up. Scorpius was teasing, of course, and hopefully Al knew that. He also told Al that whatever he got for him would be fine, as long as it's not something that would make his mother scream. His mother did not like creepy, crawling things, and would often freak out at the sight of wiggling worms. Scorpius guessed that his mother had a phobia of creatures that were slimy or something.

After sending off this owl, Scorpius went through his homework to see what he had left to do. He'd finished most of it before the holidays started, but he knew there was at least one assignment that was due after the holidays that he wasn't done with.

In three days, they were going to buy some presents for other family members. That was a relief to Scorpius, because then he won't have to bump into Al and spoil the surprises.

He knew just what he wanted to get Al, and he immediately went toward the shop that would have it.

"Don't dawdle, Scorpius," his mother said. "We have a tight schedule."

"Yes, mum," he said, and then ducked into the shop.

It was here; Al's Christmas gift. He bought it immediately.

.-.

Christmas Day came before he knew it, and he ran downstairs excitedly. His parents were already awake and sitting in their respective chairs by the tree.

"Happy Christmas, Scorpius," said his mother. "Would you like to open presents first, or eat?"

He was hoping to open presents, of course, but he didn't want to sound too eager. He shifted from foot to foot, hands clasped behind his body and eyes on the floor in front of him. He had showered and dressed the moment he woke up, because Christmas Eve last night was the night for sitting around in your jammies and sipping hot chocolate and opening the stocking presents. Christmas Day was the formal family affair.

"I would… well, it is up to you, mum…"

"No, it's up to you," said his father. "That is why we asked."

He was supposed to know patience, like his father had taught him and his grandfather had taught his father, but he'd been around Gryffindors (and Al) for too long to put up with being patient.

"Er, presents… if that's ok."

Draco shook his head, hopefully not in too much dismay, sighing, and his mum smiled and clapped her hands.

"All right, presents it is!"

Scorpius wanted to jump and shout for joy, but he held himself in check as he sat down on the floor with his family and they began to unwrap gifts.

Right before he got to his last present (which was from his grandmother), an owl came into the sitting room and landed next to Scorpius. Whenever they would get owls, the house-elves would always let them in and send them to wherever the person was.

"It's from Al!" Scorpius whooped, and grabbed the package off the owl right away. Draco gave his son a disproving look at the way Scorpius was acting, but Scorpius tried not to let it bother him too much. "Sorry, father… I'm just excited."

"Open it," said his mother. "Let's see what your best friend sent you."

Draco snorted, but they ignored him. Scorpius opened his present quickly, too impatient, and ended up ripping the paper into pieces. It was an ordinary looking box underneath.

He was nervous now. What if his parents didn't like what Albus had sent him? But it was too late to dwell on that; they were watching him. A bit more slowly, Scorpius opened the box.

It was a book. Scorpius was fond of books, but sometimes books could be boring as all hell. When a book was interesting, yet somewhat boring at the same time (with how it's written) it can be the best kind of book to read in bed. Then there were some books that absolutely fascinated him. He was sure that Al knew this, and hopefully didn't send him one that would take him eons to finish.

"Oh, how original," said Draco sardonically. "A book. What does he think you are, a Ravenclaw?"

Scorpius chuckled at that, but his curiosity got the better of him, and he picked the book up and turned it around to read the front cover (because for some reason, Al had placed it face down into the box).

"_Wizards Who Love Their Strings and More,_" Scorpius read. He blinked and stared at the dark mahogany cover, feeling his throat tighten. "It's… it's a book mostly about string instruments."

Scorpius was in such awe of the gift he felt his eyes prickle a little. His best friend knew how much it meant to him to be able to play in band, and that he loved his violin; this book was perfect, and he would place it on the shelf in his room along with the rest of his books and music sheets.

"What a lovely gift!" his mother said, smiling.

When it was time to go back to school, Scorpius decided to take the book with him. After all, he needed something to read for enjoyment in between schoolwork.

.-.

Was it really possible to be sad and happy at the same time? Standing on the platform, about to board the train back to school, Scorpius said his goodbyes to his parents. He really liked being home again, but he also missed being at Hogwarts, and so he was torn between relief and despondency. Another bright side would be that he'd get to see Al again, and that was something to look forward to.

"Remember to keep studying hard," reminded his mother. "Practice your violin as often as you can, and don't cause trouble."

"Yes, mum."

His father pat him on the shoulder. "Remember what I told you at the beginning of your year: don't go looking for trouble; leave that to the Potters."

"Yes, father."

"Write to us when you can," said his mother. "I would like to know how things are going."

"Of course, mum."

She kissed his forehead and fixed a stray hair that kept getting in his face, and then together they walked to the train.

"Scorpius!" cried an excited voice. Scorpius turned just in time to see a flying Albus Potter coming at him. He anticipated the hug, so he spread his arms out to catch Albus. His friend buried his face into his neck, and Scorpius couldn't help enjoying the contact, even though it wasn't as long as he'd hoped for. Albus was beaming, eyes bright and twinkling and hair sticking up every which way. Scorpius couldn't help smiling back.

"Miss me?" he asked.

"Of course I've missed you!" said Al, his arms still around Scorpius's shoulders. "And thank you so much for that present! Where did you get it, by the way?"

"Oh, just in some shop. You really like it?"

"Like it? I love it! It must have cost a lot though."

Scorpius waved his hand away. "Don't worry about it. As long as you like it."

"You know I do! I'm so glad that I told you that I like trains."

Scorpius had bought Albus a working train set. It wasn't the Hogwarts Express model, but it was just as good. He'd even bought him the train tracks and the mini station to go with it.

"Best part about that set is that you can get other little towns to go with it, and figurines."

Albus bounced into his arms again. "You're the best!"

Scorpius said goodbye to his parents before boarding the train. He watched with amusement as Albus said his final goodbyes to his parents and little sister.

"I can't wait to go to school when it's my time!" Lily Potter exclaimed, bouncing around. Scorpius wondered if Al's parents were giving their children too much sugar every morning.

Mr. Potter surprised Scorpius by looking at him and saying, "Enjoy the rest of your first year, Scorpius."

Scorpius looked over at his father, who was looking slightly gobsmacked by the fact that Mr. Potter was talking to him. Scorpius had failed to mention to his parents about the time when Mr. Potter came to the school because he was worried about Al, and he finally got to meet Mr. Potter face to face. He tried his best to look proper and dignified, but he was smiling.

"I will, Mr. Potter."

Albus finally boarded, smiling and energetic. He waved a final goodbye to his parents before walking down the aisle behind Scorpius.

"Did you see the look on your father's face when my dad talked to you?" said Albus, grinning. "It was brill!"

"Yeah, but I'll bet he's going to question your dad about it," said Scorpius. Then he felt some dread. "Crap, he's going to owl me about it too, I reckon."

"Don't worry," said Al. "I'm sure you won't be in trouble. Come on, let's find a compartment."

"You don't understand, Al," he said, allowing Albus to take the lead. "I haven't told my parents about that time we went looking for you."

"Oh, I'm sure it's all right," said Al, then excitedly he exclaimed, "Here's a spot!"

Scorpius and Albus entered an empty compartment. Scorpius reached up to put his schoolbag away, and then sat down heavily, thinking about what Al had said to him. He was sure that he was thinking too much on it, but he didn't tell his parents about that incident and it was hard to say what his father will think. Lately, his father had been good about him being sorted into Gryffindor and becoming friends with Harry Potter's son, but not telling him about this? He'll be forgiven, yeah, but he was sure to get a good talking to about keeping things from him.

Maybe he should owl his father before his father got a chance. Then again, would that make things better?

Later, they had bought treats from the trolley and talked about other things besides what had just transpired.

"I can't wait for this year to be over with, actually," Scorpius said, opening his chocolate frog. "Then we'll be learning more bigger and better things."

"Is second year that much different?" said Albus. He caught the frog when it leaped out of its wrapper and handed it to Scorpius. "I'm mostly excited about starting Quidditch. I talked about it with my parents, and they're all right with me trying out. I—I told my dad about how I felt… sort of. About playing Quidditch, I mean."

"Oh," said Scorpius, remembering that Albus was afraid that he wouldn't be as good as his dad. "What did he say?"

"That I had nothing to worry about," said Al, frowning slightly. "It figured that he'd say that."

"You don't have anything to worry about," said Scorpius as he popped the chocolate frog into his mouth. "You're a great flyer; it's in your blood."

"Yeah, but I kind of wish that you were on the team too. It would be fun to go flying together, training together…"

"We could still fly together," said Scorpius. "I could ask my father for a broom next year."

"That would be great!" Al beamed. And just like that, Albus was all smiles and bouncy again.

Scorpius shook his head, somewhat amused by his friend's strange and opposite personality. It was any wonder why he hadn't turned so energetic and bubbly yet.

TBC


End file.
